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J. STODDARD JOHNSTON 

V[CE-PRESIDENT OF THE FILSON CLUB 



^ 



FILSON CLUB PUBLICATIONS NO. 13. 



First Explorations 

Of Kentucky 



Doctor Thomas Walker's Journal 

Of an Exploration of Kentucky in 1750, being the First Record of a White 

Man's Visit to the interior of that Territory, now first Published 

Entire, with Notes and Biographical Sketch 



Colonel Christopher Gists Journal 

Of a Tour through Ohio and Kentucky in 175 1, with Notes 
and Sketch 



J. STODDARD JOHNSTON 

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE FILSON CLUB 




LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 

JOHN P. MORTON AND COMPANY 
^Printers to Tlie Fflson (illuh 

1898 




1898. 



.^13 



3876 



OOPirsiOHTSD BY 

The Filson Club 

1898 



PREFACE. 

"\ ^ 7HEN explorations of the unknown wilderness west 
' ' of the Alleghanies were begun a century and a 
half ago, it was customary for explorers to keep journals 
of what they saw and did. Some of these journals have 
been published, others remain in the original manuscripts, 
and yet others have perished. As a matter of course, 
where there are only the original manuscripts, they are 
not attainable except through the individual owners ; and 
even of those that have been published, some have grown 
so scarce as to be practically inaccessible to the general 
reader. Some of these journals are too valuable as his- 
toric documents to continue of use to so few readers and 
to remain in such danger of being lost forever on account 
of their singleness or fewness of copies. 

It is the purpose of The Filson Club to make selec- 
tions from these journals, and from time to time to include 
them in its series of publications. Their appearance in 
this form will not only bring them within reach of the 
members of the Club and of the reading public, but will 
secure them against the destruction which has already 
overtaken many of them and which threatens the others 
with a like fate. 



ii Preface. 

The earliest of these explorations, in what is now Ken- 
tucky, that are known to us by written records, were by 
Doctor Thomas Walker and Colonel Christopher Gist, 
about the middle of the last century. La Salle was prob- 
ably the first white man to see this country, but he saw 
it from the Ohio River, which he conceived to be a trans- 
continental stream which might float him to the Pacific 
Ocean. He probably paid but little attention to the lands 
on either side of the river while descending it toward an 
imaginary China. His description of the Falls of the 
Ohio, which he reached in 1669, is sufficiently inaccurate 
to suggest that Kentucky lands were not of his seeking. 
Other explorers, as missionaries or traders, were on these 
rivers and lands before Walker and Gist, but they left 
no account of the country which has come down to us. 
Authoritative records of explorations in this region begin 
with the journal of Doctor Walker in 1750, and that of 
Colonel Gist in 1751. Walker went through the eastern 
part of what is now Kentucky, and Gist through the 
northeastern. Their combined explorations, therefore, 
acquaint us with a goodly portion of the State while in 
its original condition, inhabited only by savages and wild 
beasts. When these explorers were here, not a house 
had been built for habitation nor a field opened for culti- 
vation by civilized man. The primeval forest, with its 



Preface. iii 

mighty trees and awful shade, covered the whole land 
except where severed by rivers or interrupted by cane- 
brakes and prairies. It is something to see this goodly 
land, wild, grand, and beautiful in its state of nature, and 
these journals are the medium through which the best 
view is to be had. 

These journals have been edited for the thirteenth 
number of The Filson Club publications by Colonel J. 
Stoddard Johnston, Vice-President of the Club. His 
knowledge of the history of the country and his familiarity 
with its geography made him the man of all others for 
the work to be done. He had personally gone over parts 
of the routes of both Walker and Gist, and had famil- 
iarized himself with the records left by other explorers in 
the same country. He had left nothing undone to make 
himself master of his subject. As evidence of his excep- 
tional qualifications as editor of these journals, it may be 
stated that in 1888 Mr. William C. Rives, a descendant 
of Doctor Walker, published a partial edition of his journal 
— partial because there were absent from it a number of 
pages of the original manuscript that could not then be 
found. In spite of these missing leaves. Colonel Johnston, 
with his superior knowledge of the country and its history, 
was able to follow the route of Doctor Walker through 
the State and supply missing names and facts. These 



iv Preface. 

absent leaves have since been found, and confirm the 
route marked out by Colonel Johnston, as well as names 
and facts supplied by him. The Walker journal, as here 
published by The Filson Club, contains these missing 
leaves, and therefore for the first time appears in full as 
the author wrote it. 

The foot-notes, the comments, and the appendices of 
Colonel Johnston will be found to be valuable additions 
to these journals. They explain much that the lapse of 
time and changes in the country had rendered obscure, 
and adapt the text of the eighteenth century to the readers 
of the nineteenth. It is believed that the reproduction 
of the journals of Walker and Gist as the thirteenth 
publication of The Filson Club will be accepted as a val- 
uable contribution to our early knowledge of the country 
embraced, and especially of that part of it which has 
since become the State of Kentucky. 

R. T. DURRETT, 

President. 



INTRODUCTION. 

*" I ^HE discovery of America four hundred years ago was 
* an event not only remarkable for its influence upon 
human civilization, but also as indicating the ignorance 
of mankind, prior to that event, of the conformation of 
the globe and of the existence of so large a component of 
territory embraced in the Western Hemisphere. Grecian 
and Roman civilization had risen and perished ; the 
Middle Ages had passed, and the revival of the arts and 
literature had set in ; the empires of the East had become 
effete with age, and the wise men of the world believed 
that human knowledge had exhausted the field of inquiry, 
while yet the vast continents of America remained undis- 
covered. The event which brought them to light marked 
a new era in the world's history as distinct as the found- 
ing of Rome or the advent of the Christian era. The 
four centuries which have elapsed since Columbus sailed 
from Palos embrace a record in the progress of civilization 
before which all that preceded them appears as but the 
dawn of a brighter day. And yet, while the period during 
which this progress has reached the zenith of its present 
stage is small compared to the antecedent centuries, an 
analysis of the steps by which it has been attained will 



vi Ititrodiiction. 

show that the progress was slow and that the real devel- 
opment of the new continent has taken place in the past 
century and a half, while the present century alone con- 
tains the record of the material development wrought by 
the arts and sciences which characterizes our present 
civilization. 

When we reflect that Columbus first discovered land 
in the Western Hemisphere October 12, 1492, that Sebas- 
tian Cabot landed in North America in 1498, and Amerigo 
Vespucci in South America in 1499, it must be borne in 
mind that it was not until 1607, more than one hundred 
3'ears after the discovery of America, that the first white 
settlement was made at Jamestown, Virginia, and 1620 
when the Mayflower landed at Plymouth. For nearly an 
hundred years after this the founders of these colonies 
and their descendants were confined in their knowledge 
of the geography of the great continent west of them to 
a narrow coast territory, practically bounded by the Blue 
Ridge and its northern extension. 

The first authentic explorer who penetrated the interior 
of North America from the eastern coast was De Soto, 
the Spanish Governor of Cuba, who in 1539-42 marched 
from Florida to the Mississippi, near the present site of 
Memphis, and lost his life in the venture ; but the account 
left by Garcilaso, the historian of the expedition, is so 



Introduction. vii 

vague that his route for the greater part can not be 
defined, and for all practical results the exploit was a 
failure, no territorial acquisition enuring to the country 
whence he hailed, except that of Florida. 

The main idea which animated Columbus in his voyage, 
to find a new route to China, continued for more than 
two centuries after his death to be the one which domi- 
nated his successors ; and the theory that this continent 
was really a part of the Flowery Kingdom was only suc- 
ceeded by one that only a comparatively narrow strip of 
land separated the Atlantic Ocean from the South Sea or 
Pacific Ocean. In 1603, when Champlain entered the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence and discovered the rapids of the 
St. Lawrence River, he called the stream ' ' La Chine, " 
indicating that he believed it a river of China. 

In 1 67 1 was made the first exploration from the Vir- 
ginia coast beyond the Blue Ridge. It was projected 
upon the theory that the waters which flowed westward 
beyond the Appalachian chain, of which that range was 
believed to be the backbone, flowed to the South Sea, 
and in the belief that this ocean was not far distant. 
General Abram Wood, who lived at the Falls of the 
Appomattox, the present site of Petersburg, Virginia, was 
commissioned by Governor Berkeley to solve the problem. 
The history of this expedition has come down to us in 



viii Introduction. 

the quaint journal of Thomas Batts, who was one of its 
members, and begins thus: "A commission being granted 
the Honble Major Genl Wood for ye findeing out of 
the Ebbing and flowing of ye waters behind the mountains 
in order to the Discovery of the South Sea ; Thomas 
Batts, Thomas Wood, Robert Fallam, accompanied by 
Perecute, a great man of the Apomatock Indians and Jack 
Nesam formerly servant to Major Genl Wood with 5 
horses set forward from the Apomatock Town in Vir- 
ginia about Eight of the Clock in the morning being 
Fryday Septr ist 1671, that they travelled about 40 
miles, took up their quarters and found they had travelled 
from the Okenechee path due West." A daily entry in 
the journal records their adventures until September 25th, 
at which time they returned to the point from which the 
expedition parted. In that interval they followed approxi- 
mately the line of 36° 30', which afterward became the 
boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, until 
they came to the Alleghany Mountains, into which at this 
point the Blue Ridge had become merged. This they 
ascended, and, proceeding northwest, came to the river 
which General Wood named the New River, as it is 
now called, but which was long known as Wood's River. 
It is the principal tributary of the Kanawha, which being 
for a time called Wood's River, the name was erroneously 



Introduction. ix 

said to have been derived from an Indian name signify- 
ing the River of the Woods. After having for several days 
had distant views of the river, the entry of the i6th of 
September says: "About lo of the Clock they set for- 
ward and after they had travelled lo miles one of the 
Indians killed a dear ; presently after they had a sight 
of a curious River like the Thames agt. Chelcey (Chelsea), 
but had a fall yt made a great noise whose Course was 
then N. and so as they supposed ran W. about certain 
pleasant mountains which they saw to the Westward. 
Here they took up their quarters and found their course 
had been W. and by N. Here they found Indian Fields 
with Corn Stalks in them and understood afterward the 
Mohetans had lived there not long before." 

They then took formal possession of the country by 
marking the trees with branding - irons with the initials 
of the members of the company, and made formal proc- 
lamation in these words : ' ' Long live King Charles ye 
2nd King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and 
Virginia and all the teretoryes thereunto belonging De- 
fender of ye Faith." 

' ' When they came to ye River side they found it bet- 
ter and broader than they expected full as broad as the 
Thames over agt. Waping, ye Falls much like the Falls 
of James River, in Virginia, and imagined by the water- 



X Introduction. 

marks it flowed there about 3 feet. It was then ebbing 
water. They sett up a stick by the water but found it 
ebb very slowly." 

The Indian guides whom they had brought with them 
from the Tolera nation eastward being impatient to return, 
they reluctantly started on their homeward journey with- 
out having been able to reach the South Sea, which they 
believed not far off, but the journal adds that "when 
they were on the Top of the Hill they took a prospect 
as far as they could see and saw westerly over certain 
delightful hills a fogg arise and a glimmering light as 
from water and suppose they may be some great Bog." 

It was many years after this before the delusion of the 
proximity of the South Sea, which this exploration seemed 
to confirm, was relinquished, and even then that theory 
only gave way to another equally erroneous, that the 
waters beyond the mountains, if not flowing westward to 
the ocean, found their way to the northern lakes. As 
late as 17 16, Alexander Spottswood, Governor of Virginia, 
was the first white man who had crossed the Blue Ridge 
proper. In that year he made his celebrated Golden 
Horse Shoe Expedition, crossing the Blue Ridge at the 
head of the Rappahannock, through Swift Run Gap, and, 
entering the Shenandoah Valley, discovered the river of 
that name, which, from the fertility of the soil adjacent. 



Introduction. xi 

he named the Euphrates. As its course was northward, 
he concluded it emptied into the lakes. One of the com- 
pany, Mr. John Fontaine, has left a journal giving an 
interesting account of the expedition. Reaching the top 
of the Blue Ridge, he says: "We drank King George's 
health and all the Royal Family's at the very top of the 
Appalachian Mountains," and, upon reaching the river, he 
adds : ' ' The Governor had graving irons, but could not 
grave anything, the stones were so hard. I graved my 
name on a tree by the river side ; and the Governor 
buried a bottle with a paper inclosed on which he writ 
that he took possession of this place in the name and for 
King George the First of England. We had a good 
dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded 
all their arms and we drank the King's health in cham- 
pagne, and fired a volley — the Princess's health in Burgundy 
and fired a volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family 
in claret and a volley. We drank the Governor's health 
and fired another volley. We had several sorts of liquors, 
viz : Virginia red wine and white wine, Irish usquebaugh, 
brandy, shrub, rum, champagne, canary, punch water, 
cider, &c. . . . We called the highest mountain Mount 
George and the one we crossed over Mount Spottswood. " 
As a memorial of this jolly expedition Governor Spotts- 
wood, on his return to Williamsburg, the Capital, insti- 



xii Introduction. 

tuted the order of the Golden Horse Shoe, presenting 
each of the gentlemen who accompanied him with a small 
horse shoe of gold, inscribed with the legend, Sic Juvat 
transcendere monies. The condition requisite for further 
admission into the order was that the applicant should 
prove that he had crossed the mountain and drunk his 
Majesty's health upon Mount George. Sixteen years after 
this, in 1732, Andrew Lewis was one of the pioneer 
settlers in the Shenandoah Valley, leading the van of the 
great Scotch-Irish immigration which soon set in in that 
direction, and whence Kentucky drew so largely for its 
pioneers. 

Between the time of Wood's discovery of the New 
River as a supposed tributary of the South Sea and 
Spottswood's discovery of the Shenandoah as a possible 
tributary of the northern lakes, a great step had been 
taken in the solution of the problem of the relation of 
this continent with a western ocean. The French had, 
early after taking possession of Canada, availed them- 
selves of the water route afforded by the St. Lawrence 
and the lakes to push expeditions of discovery and trade 
to the west. They had, as early as the middle of the 
seventeenth century, penetrated as far as the site of Detroit, 
and soon after began to establish trading-posts and mis- 
sions at various points in the territory adjacent. In the fall 



Introduction. xiii 

or early winter of 1 669 Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle, 
inspired by the idea of solving the problem of the great 
river which was said to empty into the South Sea, made 
an expedition from Canada by way of the head waters of 
the Ohio to the Falls, the present site of Louisville, but 
prosecuted his adventure no further, and returned to the 
lakes to pursue his explorations along that line.' 

In 1673 Marquette, passing from Lake Michigan by 
way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, penetrated to the 
Mississippi, gave the first authentic account of its exist- 
ence since its discovery by De Soto, and exploded the 
fallacy of a water connection from the westward of the 
Alleghanies to the South Sea. But the identity of this 
stream with that of De Soto was not fully established 
until in 1682, when La Salle in that year descended the 
great river from the Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. He 
reached the mouth April 19th, and took formal possession 
of the territory in the name of Louis XIV, the Grand 
Monarque, after the manner of that day, and gave it the 
name of Louisiana in his honor. For his great achieve- 
ment, as the result of many years of labor and adventure, 
honors were lavished upon him by his sovereign, and he 
was intrusted with the command of a great expedition for 

'The Centenary of Louisville, by Colonel R. T. Durrett. Filson Club 
Publications Number 8, 1893, page 20. 

3 



xiv lufroditction. 

the settlement of the new territory, but fell a victim to 
treachery in the perilous undertaking. Soon afterward 
military posts and missions were established on the 
Illinois, Mississippi, and Wabash rivers, which, in con- 
junction with these rivers and the lakes, formed a chain 
of military communication and trade from Montreal to 
New Orleans. Long before the English had projected set- 
tlements beyond the Alleghany Mountains the French 
were in possession of the Mississippi Valley, had mapped 
and described its geography and topography, and until 
the termination of the seven years' war by the treaty 
of Paris, February lo, 1763, claimed all the land 
watered by streams flowing westward from the Alleghanies. 
Prior to 1750 there is no record of English exploration, 
much less of settlement, in the trans-Alleghany region 
north of the latitude of 36° 30'. The only exception as 
to the territory south of that line is in the case of a few 
traders among the Indian tribes which inhabited territory 
now embraced in Northwestern Georgia and Tennessee. 
From Eastern Virginia there was a brisk trade in the early 
part of the eighteenth century with the Indians of North 
and South Carolina, and thence to the northwest with the 
Cherokees and Creeks of North Georgia and the Valley of 
the Tennessee. James Adair, a Scotch trader from North 
Carolina, who lived for thirty years among the Cherokees, 



Introduction. xv 

published in London in 1775 an extensive work upon the 
manners and customs, and especially the religious charac- 
ter of these Indians, evincing much erudition and minute- 
ness of observation. He claimed that they were red Jews, 
had many Hebrew words in their vocabulary, carried the 
Ark of the Covenant, and observed many Jewish rites 
and customs. (History of the American Indians, etc., by 
James Adair, a trader with the Indians and resident in 
their country forty years. London. 1775.) 

But it was not until 1748 that any organized move- 
ment was made looking to the acquirement or settle- 
ment of lands west of the Alleghany. In that and the 
succeeding year two large land companies were organized 
in London, under Royal Charter — the Loyal Land Com- 
pany, authorized to survey and locate eight hundred 
thousand acres in the territory now embraced in Ken- 
tucky north of 36° 30', and the Ohio Company, author- 
ized to locate and settle five hundred thousand acres 
between the Kanawha and Monongahela rivers, and 
upon the waters of the Ohio, below the junction of 
the Monongahela and the Alleghany. As representative 
of the Loyal Land Company Doctor Thomas Walker 
made an exploration westward of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains in the spring of 1750, in search of suitable lands for 
settlement, passing through Kentucky from Cumberland 



xvi Introduction. 

Gap northward, and in the autumn of the same year Chris- 
topher Gist passed through Ohio westward to the Great 
Miami, and thence from the mouth of the Scioto southward 
through Kentucky. They were the earhest white men 
who explored this territory who have left a record of their 
observations, and their journals are given in the following 
pages, with full explanatory foot-notes. That of Gist was 
published more than an hundred years ago in a work the 
full title of which is as follows : "A Topographical 
Description of such parts of North America as are con- 
tained in the annexed Map of the Middle British Colonies, 
&c., in North America. By T. Pownall, M. P., late Gov- 
ernor, &c., of his Majesty's Provinces of Massachusetts and 
South Carolina and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. 
London. Published for J. Almon, opposite Burlington 
House in Piccadilly. 1776." The text of this work has 
been followed in all its details of spelling, capitals, and 
punctuation. It has been republished and largely drawn 
on by historians, but has been the occasion of many 
errors, from a failure to interpret correctly some parts of 
the route pursued. 

The journal of Doctor Walker is now for the first time 
given in complete form. Although its existence has been 
long known, and brief reference is made to it in various 
histories of the West, no part of it was published until 



Introduction. xvii 

within the last decade, when it appeared with the following 
title : ' ' Journal of an Exploration in the Spring of the 
Year 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia, with a 
Preface by William Cabell Rives, LL. B., Member of 
the American Historical Association. Boston : Little, 
Brown & Co. 1888." This publication, issued by a 
descendant of Doctor Walker, while a valuable contribu- 
tion to Western history, was defective in the omission of 
the sheets of the journal for the first ten days from 
March 6th to March i6th, 1749-50, and for ten days 
from April loth to April 20th, 1750. Four years ago it 
came under the observation of the editor of the present 
publication, who became interested in correctly defining 
Doctor Walker's route through Kentucky, which he was 
satisfied had been incorrectly laid down by all others. 
By a close study of the journal, notwithstanding the sec- 
ond hiatus embraced the period through which Doctor 
Walker passed into Kentucky, he succeeded in his effort, 
and read a paper covering the subject before the Filson 
Club, November 13, 1894, accompanied by a map show- 
ing his route, together with the location of the house 
erected by him on the Cumberland River, which always 
theretofore had been laid down on the early maps as due 
south of Louisville, more than an hundred miles too far 
west. He then addressed himself to the effort to find 



xviii Introduction. 

the missing sheets of the journal, and, after corresponding 
with Doctor William C. Rives, son of the gentleman 
above named, who first placed the journal in print, they 
were fortunately recovered after a search among some of 
the family papers long laid away. Doctor Rives kindly 
sent them to the editor, with permission to restore them 
to the journal in their proper place, and they, together 
with the entire journal, from the text of Mr. William 
Cabell Rives' publication cited, are given in the following 
pages, with strict adherence to the spelling and other 
features. The foot-notes, which have been made as brief 
as is consistent with their object, give the location of the 
explorer from day to day, together with such information 
and explanation as will enable the reader to follow his 
route. The missing leaves confirmed the editor in every 
particular in which, in his original Filson Club paper, 
he by hypothesis mapped out the route not embraced 
in the mutilated journal, and no corrections of the map 
made to illustrate his paper were found necessary. The 
present paper is an expansion and elaboration of the orig 
inal one, and after very careful preparation is submitted as 
a contribution to pioneer history, the necessity for which 
has long been apparent to the student and compiler. It 
was at first his purpose to present it unaccompanied with 
any other, but the coincidence as to time of the explora- 



Introductio7i. xix 

tion by Christopher Gist, the fact that they traversed 
different parts of the State, and the important influence 
the two explorers and their labors had upon the settle- 
ment of the West and of Kentucky, have induced him to 
include both journals in one publication. The editor 
makes his acknowledgments for valuable assistance derived 
from "Christopher Gist's Journals," by William M. Dar- 
lington, published in Pittsburgh by J. R. Welden, 1888 ; to 
Colonel R. T. Durrett, Captain James M. Bourne, and 
others who have assisted him in preparing this work. 



\i 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 



pvOCTOR THOMAS WALKER was born in King 
* — ^ and Queen County, Virginia, January 25, 17 15. 
His father, of the same name, was of a family long 
settled in the tide - water section of Virginia, his first 
American ancestor having come from Staffordshire, Eng- 
land, in 1650, and been a member of the Colonial 
Assembly in 1662, as a representative from Gloucester 
County. While the records of the family do not con- 
tain much of the details of the lives of its earlier 
representatives, they show them to have been of a 
sturdy stock, and to have belonged to the class of Vir- 
ginia planters which constituted the most respectable 
and influential element of the colonial population. Doctor 
Walker's mother was Susanna Peachy, to whom his 
father was married September 24, 1709. Their children 
were Mary Peachy, born in 17 10, who married Doctor 
George Gilmer, of Williamsburg, Virginia, who left many 
descendants of distinction, including a Governor each of 
Virginia and Georgia; John, born April 29, 18 10, who mar- 
ried Miss Baylor, of Essex County, and Thomas, the 
subject of this sketch. It is to be regretted that but 

4 



2 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

little is known of the early life of Doctor Walker or of 
his educational advantages, but it is inferred that he 
enjoyed the best afforded at that time in the Colony, and 
that he attended the academical or medical course, one 
or both, of William and Mary College. That, as the title 
which he bore indicates, he was a physician, though not 
confining himself strictly to the practice, may be inferred 
from the evidence afforded by his journal. But, as one 
of his biographers says in correcting an error stating that 
he was a divine, "a more conclusive proof of his being a 
physician is the fact that in June, July, and August, 1757, 
he made oft-repeated visits to Colonel Peter Jefferson, 
and stood by his bedside when he died on the 17th of 
August in that year. " It is more than probable that with 
an adventurous spirit he preferred a more active life and 
one which offered more remunerative returns, and laid 
aside his saddle-bags to become a surveyor — a profession 
which at that time and later drew to its service the most 
representative Virginians. Besides, another inducement 
naturally led him to make this change. In 1741, when 
he was twenty-six years of age, he married a lady who 
brought to him a landed estate of fifteen thousand acres, 
and the proper care and subdivision of it afterward made 
it an object of sufficient importance to induce him to 
take this step. The companion whom he chose and 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas PValker. 3 

who became the mother of his twelve children and the 
ancestress of a long line of distinguished descendants 
was a young widow several years older than himself — 
Mrs. Nicholas Meriwether, whose maiden name was Mil- 
dred Thornton. She was a second cousin of Washington, 
whose elder brother Samuel had married one of her near 
relatives. Her land was situated in Albemarle County, 
east of Charlottesville, in one of the most historic portions 
of Virginia, and here he afterward erected the homestead 
known as Castle Hill, which is still occupied by his lineal 
descendants. He was the intimate friend of Peter Jefferson, 
the father of the author of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and at his death became his executor and the 
guardian of his illustrious son. From association with 
him it is easy to conceive how naturally his mind was 
influenced and his life turned into the current of adven- 
ture for which his new calling so well fitted him. The 
civilization of Virginia had long been confined to a com- 
parativel}' narrow strip of territory between the Blue Ridge 
and the Atlantic. In 1728 the increase in population 
prompted the extension of the boundary line between 
North Carolina and Virginia, and in that and the succeed- 
ing year it was established as far west as the foot of the 
Alleghany Mountains by a commission, at the head of 
which was Colonel William Byrd, of Westover. His account 



4 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

of the survey, as given in the "Westover Papers," is one 
of the most interesting contributions to colonial history, 
and discloses the fact that he ran the line seventy-two miles 
beyond the limit fixed by his associates, who protested 
that they had already reached a point to which it would 
require fifty years for the settlements to extend. Yet in 
twenty years the tide of immigration had reached the base 
of the Alleghanies, and a further extension of the line 
westward was required. For this service were selected by 
the Colonial Assembly Joshua Fry, a graduate of Oxford, 
the distinguished Professor of Mathematics of William and 
Mary College, and Peter Jefferson, whose calling was that 
of a surveyor. In 1749, accompanied by Daniel Weldon 
and William Churton, Commissioners on the part of North 
Carolina, they extended the line on the parallel of 36° 30' 
seventy-three miles further to Steep Rock, a point about 
twenty-five miles southeast of Abingdon, Virginia. Fry 
and Jefferson were further associated as civil engineers in 
the preparation of the map of Virginia which bears their 
name, published by them in 1751, and which was used in 
the treaty of peace between England and the United 
States at the close of the Revolutionary War. To still 
further show the impetus which had required this exten- 
sion and its rapid progress, it was only thirty years when, 
in 1779, this line was extended five hundred miles further 



Sketch of Doctoy TJwmas Walker. 5 

westward by Doctor Walker himself. In 1748 the spirit 
of western adventure was quickened by the desire of the 
English Government to occupy, as against the adverse 
claim of the French, the rich lands beyond the Allegha- 
nies, and, in that and the succeeding year, two great land 
companies, having for their object the settlement of this 
territory, were organized — the Ohio Company looking to 
the occupation of the land upon the Ohio and its upper 
tributaries, and the Loyal Land Company having for its 
object the territory in Southwestern Virginia and Ken- 
tucky. In 1748 Doctor Walker, who had become known 
for his skill as a surveyor, his good judgment as a locator 
of eligible surveys, and his fondness for exploring regions 
beyond the settlements, in company with a number of 
gentlemen in search of good land, made an expedition 
through Southwestern Virginia. Among the party were 
Colonel James Patton, who had theretofore received a 
grant of about one hundred and twenty thousand acres of 
land in the Valley of Virginia, Colonel John Buchanan, 
his son-in-law. Colonel Wood, and Major Charles Camp- 
bell, all names prominent in the annals of the Colony. 
They penetrated the country of the Cherokees along the 
Holston, now in East Tennessee, and the result of their 
trip doubtless contributed to the extension of the line by 
Fry and Jefferson and the settlements which followed; so 



6 Sketch of Doctor T/ioinas JValker. 

that in the following year, when the Loyal Land Com- 
pany was organized with a grant of eight hundred thousand 
acres of land, Doctor Walker was selected as the agent 
and surveyor of the company to make their locations. 
His journal shows that on the 12th of December, 1749, 
he had contracted "to go to the westward, in order to 
discover a proper place for a settlement," and that he 
started on his long and perilous journey in company with 
five companions on the 12th of March following. The 
character of the man is well portrayed in his quaint and 
simple but concise and intelligent record of that notable 
expedition, the hardships endured and the obstacles over- 
come. The time occupied in making this great circuit 
through Kentucky was just four months, along the route 
of which for the greater part railroads now run, enabling 
the trip to be made in comfort in forty-eight hours. But 
the results, except in the experience and knowledge of 
the country, valuable for future purposes, were of no imme- 
diate advantage. By a singular perversity of fate, although 
for many weary weeks he skirted, at the distance of a 
day or two of travel, the rich bluegrass region of Ken- 
tucky, he saw only the most rugged mountain region, and 
floundered through rocky laurel thickets and swollen 
streams. But his energy was not impaired, and his 
enthusiasm never flagged. The geographical and topo- 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 7 

graphical information derived by Doctor Walker on this 
trip was early utilized by the historians and map-makers. 
Vaugondy's map (Map by Sr. Robert de Vaugondy, 
Geographic Ordinaire du Roy, 1755) lays down Doctor 
Walker's settlement on the Cumberland quite accurately 
as to latitude, but too far west, and Crooked Creek, 
Powell's, Lawless, Hughes, and Frederick's River, but makes 
them all flow into the Ohio, when, except the latter, they 
are tributaries of the Cumberland. Mitchell's map and 
the map of Lewis Evans, published in Philadelphia, 1755, 
also contain data evidently furnished by him. Evans is 
the only one who makes acknowledgment. He says 
(Pownall, page 34): "As for the branches of Ohio, which 
head in New Virginia, I am particularly obliged to Doctor 
Thomas Walker for the intelligence of what names they 
bear, and what rivers they fall into northward and west- 
ward ; but this gentleman, being on a journey when I 
happened to see him, had not his notes, whereby he might 
have rendered those parts more perfect." He made 
numerous trips to other localities, though not so remote, 
and was frequently for long periods absent from home, 
acquiring great influence among the Indians and a 
thorough knowledge of their character. He continued 
without intermission as the agent of the company until 
1775, when in April of that year he settled his accounts 



8 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

to their full satisfaction. Not much is known of the 
details of his operations or the particular localities in which 
he was engaged, but in the Colonial Records of Virginia, 
Volume II, page 298, appears a letter from him, in which 
he states that for five years his headquarters were in 
Southwestern Virginia, at what is now Abingdon, which he 
calls Washington Court House, and which had been pre- 
viously known as Wolf Hills. 

During this long term of service Doctor Walker did 
not confine himself to the duties of a surveyor and land 
agent, but in the stirring conflicts of the frontier he bore 
his part in the field, and gave to his country the benefit 
of his valuable experience gained as a frontiersman. In 
1755, when the French and Indians threatened to extermi- 
nate the whites or drive the settlers eastward of the Blue 
Ridge, he was made Commissary, with the rank of Major, 
to the Virginia troops which accompanied Braddock in his 
disastrous campaign. His preliminary duties required him 
to make an extensive trip to the extreme western part of 
Maryland and thence into Pennsylvania, his journal recount- 
ing many incidents of adventure by flood and field. Among 
other items is one in which he speaks of dining with ' ' the 
ingenious Doctor Benjamin Franklin, " who was then ' ' Post- 
master General of America," upon whom devolved the 
singular duty of furnishing transportation for General Brad- 



Sketch of DoctoF Thomas PValker. 9 

dock, and who visited his headquarters at Will's Creek, 
now Cumberland, Maryland. In the battle or massacre 
which followed. Doctor Walker narrowly escaped death or 
capture with Washington. In 1768 he was appointed 
with Andrew Lewis a Commissioner on the part of Virginia 
to a congress with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, the 
site of Rome, New York, when on the 5th of November 
a treaty was signed by which was conveyed to the English, 
for a sum approximating ten thousand pounds sterling, 
a vast territory west of the Alleghanies, including all of 
Kentucky east of the Tennessee River. The name of 
Doctor Walker appears signed to the treaty, but that 
of Andrew Lewis does not. This is explained by Doctor 
Walker in a deposition given December 3, 1777, to the 
effect that, before the signing. General Lewis was called 
off. (Virginia Colonial Records, Volume I, page 297.) 

In 1774, after the battle of Point Pleasant, when on 
the loth of October Andrew Lewis defeated the Shawnee 
Chief Cornstalk in that most notable contest between the 
whites and Indians, Doctor Walker was again appointed a 
Commissioner with John Harvie, and concluded a treaty 
with the Indians. In the following year, when a member of 
the House of Burgesses, he was appointed, next in order 
of nomination to Washington, one of the Commissioners 
to arrange a treaty with the Ohio Indians, whose friend- 

5 



lo Sketch of Doctor Thouias Walker. 

ship it was desirable to retain in view of the pending 
difficulties with the mother country ; and his name, with 
that of Andrew Lewis, James Wood, and Adam Stephens, 
appears signed to the transcript of proceedings held at 
Fort Pitt, from September 12th to October 21st, 1775, as 
having presided over the conferences. Besides being a 
member of the House of Burgesses, he was a member of 
the Revolutionary Convention, and also of the Committee 
of Public Safety. In 1777 he was a member of the Coun- 
cil of State, consisting of eight members chosen by the 
joint ballot of the two houses composing the legislature of 
Virginia. It was a body of important functions, as it 
shared with the Governor in all his executive powers, and 
without whose concurrence he could perform no official 
act. But Doctor Walker was not the only member of 
his family who bore an active part in the events of this 
period. His son. Colonel John Walker, who was after- 
ward a member of Congress and United States Senator, 
served as aid-de-camp to Washington, and elicited the 
expression of that great officer's confidence in his "abili- 
ties, honor, and prudence." 

Although Doctor Walker had now reached an age when 
he might well have retired from the arduous labors which 
had characterized his life, in 1779 he was chosen by 
the Legislature of Virginia a Commissioner on the part 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas JValker. 1 1 

of the State to extend the Hne of 36° 30', the boundary 
between Virginia and North Carohna, from the end 
of Fry and Jefferson's Hne westward to the Tennessee. 
It is commonly said that he was appointed by Jefferson, 
Governor of Virginia, but the record shows that he 
was chosen by the legislature before Mr. Jefferson became 
Governor and while he was a member of the House of 
Delegates. (See Journal House of Delegates for Decem- 
ber 19, 1778.) The people of Virginia, who had rebelled 
against the exercise of arbitrary executive power, besides 
providing a council to restrain the executive, denied him 
the power of appointment in such cases. As his associate 
Commissioner they selected Daniel Smith, a cultivated 
surveyor, who had been long associated with Doctor 
Walker in the business of the Loyal Land Company, 
having been five years with him at Abingdon. 

Daniel Smith, son of Henry and Sarah (Crosby) Smith, 
was born in Stafford County, Virginia, October 17, 1748 
(O. S.), and died in Sumner County, Tennessee, June 16, 
1 8 1 8. He moved early to the western part of Virginia and 
settled on Clinch River, and was a surveyor by occupa- 
tion. Shortly after concluding his service with Doctor 
Walker in running the boundary line he moved to that 
part of Tennessee, near Nashville, by the fertility of 
which he had been attracted while on this service. He 



1 2 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

was one of the earliest settlers of the State, being contem- 
porary with John Donelson, whose son, Samuel Donelson, 
law partner of Andrew Jackson, married his daughter, and 
whose daughter married one of Smith's sons. Andrew 
Jackson Donelson was his grandson, and Donelson Caff ery. 
Senator from Louisiana, is a lineal descendant of John 
Donelson. He filled many public offices ; was Captain 
in and Colonel of the Second Battalion of Washington 
County, Virginia ; was Major-General of militia ; appoint- 
ed by Washington Secretary of the Territory south of 
the Ohio in 1 790 ; member of the North Carolina Legis- 
lature ; member of the convention that framed the Con- 
stitution of Tennessee; United States Senator in 1798-99 
in place of Andrew Jackson, resigned, and again from 1805 
until his own resignation in 1809. He published the 
first map of Tennessee and a geography of the State 
(Philadelphia, 1799). 

The Commissioners on the part of North Carolina were 
Colonel Richard Henderson and William B. Smith. They 
entered on their duties September 6, 1779, but owing to 
a disagreement the Commissioners of each State ran a 
separate line as far as Cumberland Gap, where those 
from North Carolina ceased operations. Doctor Walker 
and Daniel Smith continued the survey amid the severity 
of a winter still known by tradition as the cold winter of 



Sketch of Doctor Tliomas Walker. 1 3 

1780, and finished it at the Tennessee River March 23, 
1780. Their report, which is full of interest and further 
illustrates the energy, skill, and endurance of Doctor 
Walker, will be found in Hening's Virginia Reports, Volume 
IX, page 562. It is stated in the report that "After we 
had returned homeward one hundred and sixty miles we 
met with orders from his Excellency, the Governor (Jef- 
ferson), to do another piece of service which we suppose 
he has made you acquainted with." This was, most prob- 
ably, to run an experimental line from the late terminus 
still further westward. It had been supposed that it 
would strike the Ohio, but it came out on the Mississippi, 
and in that year George Rogers Clark, under the direction 
of Jefferson, erected Fort Jefferson on that stream for the 
protection of American interests. The country between 
the Tennessee and the Mississippi then belonged to the 
Chickasaws, and was acquired from them by treaty con- 
cluded October 19, 1818, Andrew Jackson and Isaac 
Shelby being the Commissioners on the part of the 
United States. The price paid for that part of Tennes- 
see and Kentucky west of the Tennessee River was three 
hundred thousand dollars, and that portion of Kentucky 
has since been known locally as the Jackson Purchase. 
Doctor Walker continued for several years after this 
to participate actively in civil affairs, but declined further 



1 4 Sketch of Doctor Thomas M^alkcr. 

service in the field. In the Virginia Colonial Records, 
Volume II, page 298, is a letter from him, written August 
7, 1 78 1, to Governor Nelson, regretting his inability to 
accept the appointment made by the General Assembly 
of Virginia as Commissioner to settle all accounts of 
disbursements and claims in the part of the State includ- 
ing Kentucky, as he was admonished by the infirmities 
of increasing age not to undertake such an arduous task. 
The Revolutionary War was drawing to a close, involving 
Virginia in its last throes in the devastation of an invading 
army. The whole eastern portion was overrun by the 
British forces under Arnold and Tarleton, the capital taken, 
and much public and private property destroyed every- 
where. Charlottesville, to which the legislature had 
adjourned, Monticello, and Castle Hill were raided by 
Tarleton's dragoons, and the legislature, Mr. Jefferson, and 
Doctor Walker barely escaped capture. An interesting 
incident of the raid is recorded, well illustrating the spirit 
which actuated the American women of that period. Not 
far distant from Charlottesville, on an estate known as 
' ' The Farm, " resided Nicholas Lewis, the uncle and guard- 
ian of Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expe- 
dition to the Pacific. His wife was Mary Walker, the 
eldest daughter of Doctor Walker. Her husband was 
absent in the army when Tarleton with his raiders swooped 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas IValker. 1 5 

down on her home and proceeded to appropriate forage 
and every thing eatable and portable. She received the 
British cavalryman with spirit and dignity, and upbraided 
him sharply for his war on defenseless women, telling him 
to go to the armies of Virginia and meet her men. Tarle- 
ton parried her thrusts with politeness as well as he could, 
and after his men were rested, resumed his march. After 
his departure Mrs. Lewis discovered that his men had 
carried off all her ducks except a single old drake. This 
she caused to be caught and sent it to Tarleton by a 
messenger, who overtook him, with her compliments, say- 
ing that the drake was lonesome without his companions, 
and as he had evidently overlooked it, she wished 
to reunite them. From that time she was known as 
"Captain Moll," and bears that sobriquet in the family 
records. She was a woman of strong character, was still 
living at "The Farm" in 1817, and left many descend- 
ants in Virginia and in and near Louisville, Kentucky. 
On the 19th of October, 1781, Tarleton's career closed, 
and Virginia was relieved from similar devastation for a 
period of eighty years by the surrender at Yorktown. 

In 1782 Doctor Walker, then a member of the General 
Assembly, is mentioned as a member of the "committee 
to prepare a full and detailed vindication of the claims 
of Virginia to her western territory," and it can not be 



1 6 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker . 

doubted that his services contributed to the estabHshment 
of the boundaries fixed in the ultimate treaty of peace, 
by which the British surrendered their claim to the terri- 
tory north of the Ohio, now comprising five States and 
part of a sixth, won by the valor of George Rogers 
Clark at Kaskaskia and Vincennes. The following inter- 
esting glimpse of Doctor Walker may be valuable to his 
descendants, where the record of the personal details of 
his life is otherwise so restricted. It is taken from Travels 
Through the Interior Parts of America, by T. Anburey, 
Vol. II, 1789. In a letter of April 18, 1780, he says: 
' ' Some short time since I became acquainted with a 
Colonel Walker (evidently Colonel John Walker, aide-de- 
camp to Washington, etc.), who has lately been elected 
a Delegate to represent this State in Congress. The 
usual hospitality of the country presides at his house ; 
but what renders it unpleasant, the family will chiefly 
converse on politics, but always with moderation. I was 
much pleased with a very noble and animated speech of 
the Colonel's father, a man possessing all his faculties 
with strong understanding, though considerably above 
eighty years of age [overestimated — Ed.]. One day in 
chat, while each was delivering his sentiment of what 
would be the state of America a century hence, the old 
man, with great fire and spirit, declared his opinion that 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 1 7 

' the Americans would then reverence the resolution of 
their forefathers and would eagerly impress an adequate 
idea of the sacred value of freedom in the minds of their 
children, that it may descend to the latest posterity ; 
that if, in any future ages, they should be again called 
forth to revenge public injuries to secure that freedom, 
they should adopt the same measures that secured it to 
them by their brave ancestors. 

The scope of this sketch will not admit of the introduc- 
tion of many matters of historical interest which might 
appropriately be introduced in an extended biography. 
Among these are the details of Doctor Walker's large land 
transactions, together with copies of many curious deeds 
of transfer, a few of which, with the polysyllabic and unpro- 
nounceable names of subscribing Indian chiefs, accompanied 
by their hieroglyphic marks, some of them resembling 
Chinese letters and others natural objects, as the turtle, 
the deer, and the wolf, are preserved in the ' ' Genealogy 
of the Page Family in Virginia, by Doctor R. C. M. Page, 
New York, 1893." To one only can special reference be 
made, showing as it does the magnitude of some of his 
transactions. This is a deed dated July 30, 1779, from 
George Croghan, the noted Indian trader and deputy 
Indian agent of Pennsylvania, in which for a consideration 
of five thousand Spanish dollars he conveys the forty-eighth 



1 8 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

part of six million acres of land, being one hundred and 
twenty-five thousand acres, to the following persons : 
Thomas Walker, John Walker, Thomas Walker, junior, 
Nicholas Lewis, George Gilmer, Matthew Maury, Reuben 
Lindsay, Henry Fry, and Joseph Hornsby ; the grantees 
being Doctor Walker, his two sons, and six sons-in-law. 

All the evidence presented in the life of Doctor Walker 
indicates that he was a man of a large mould, that while 
careful in detail he had a broad, comprehensive mind, and 
exerted a large influence for the good of his fellow-man. 
In fact, it is not asserting too much to say that, if the full 
measure of the influence which he exerted in the matter 
of the exploration, acquisition, and settlement of the 
West were known, he would be entitled to vastly more 
credit than has been accorded to him. His relations with 
the father of Thomas Jefferson brought him in contact 
with the latter at an impressible age, and from the interest 
manifested by him through his long hfe in the same lines, 
it is easy to conclude that he imbibed from Doctor Walker 
much of that spirit of inquiry into the natural resources, 
geography, anthropology, zoology, and botany which made 
him the best informed man on such subjects, and has ren- 
dered his Notes on Virginia, crude as he called them, a 
standard authority to this day. How much of that varied 
information which surprised not only his own countrymen, 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas IValker. 1 9 

but the learned of all nations, he derived from Doctor 
Walker is matter of conjecture, but it is certain that he 
consulted him much, and in one of his letters of inquiry 
extant he tells him that he knows ' ' nobody else who can 
give me equal information on all points. " That the accurate 
reports derived from Doctor Walker of the value of the 
western country as a heritage worth preserving led him to 
throw his whole official as well as personal influence in 
seconding the plans of George Rogers Clark for the acqui- 
sition of the Northwest Territory can admit of little doubt, 
while the magnetism of Doctor Walker's love for adventure 
and the extension of Virginia's boundary may well be sup- 
posed to have planted the germ which expanded into the 
purchase of Louisiana and the expedition of Lewis and 
Clark to the Pacific immediately thereafter. Throughout 
Jefferson's correspondence evidences that he entertained 
such ideas crop out twenty years before their accomplish- 
ment. 

The wife of Doctor Walker died November 16, 1778, 
and some years thereafter he married Elizabeth Thornton, 
a cousin of his first wife. Washington refers to her in a 
letter to Doctor Walker, April 10, 1784: "I hope it is 
unnecessary to give you assurance of the pleasure I should 
feel in seeing you and my cousin here at this retreat 
(Mount Vernon) from all my public employments," 



20 Sketch of Doctor TJioiiias Walker. 

The children of Doctor Walker, all the fruit of his 
first marriage, were twelve in number, all born at Castle 
Hill: 

1. Mary Walker, known as "Captain Moll, "born July 
24, 1742, and married Nicholas Lewis. 

2. Honorable John Walker, born February 13, 1744, 
who married Elizabeth Moore, granddaughter of Governor 
Spottswood. 

3. Susan Walker, born December 14, 1746, who mar- 
ried Henry Fry, son of Colonel Joshua Fry, senior. 

4. Thomas Walker, junior, second and only son to 
have male issue, born March 1 7, 1 749, who married 
Margaret Hoops, of Pennsylvania. 

5. Lucy Walker, born May 5, 1751, who married 
Doctor George Gilmer, of Albemarle County, Virginia, 
and was the grandmother of Governor Thomas Walker 
Gilmer, of Virginia, killed by the bursting of a gun on the 
man-of-war "Princeton," February 28, 1844, while Secre- 
tary of the Navy. Another descendant of this couple was 
George Rockingham Gilmer, twice Governor of Georgia, 
and member of Congress three terms. 

6. Elizabeth (called Betsey), born August i, 1753, 
who married Reverend Matthew Maury, son of Reverend 
James Maury, of the "Parson Case," in which Patrick 
Henry made his first reputation as an orator. Among 



Sketch of Doctor Tlioinas IValker. 2 1 

their descendants were Matthew F. Maury, the distin- 
guished naval officer and scientist, and General Dabney 
H. Maury, of the Confederate Army. 

7. Mildred Walker, born June 5, 1755, who married 
Joseph Hornsby. No issue. 

8. Sarah Walker, born March 28, 1758, who married 
Reuben Lindsay. 

9. Martha Walker, born May 2, 1760, who married 
George Divers. No issue. 

10. Reuben Walker, born October 8, 1762, who died 
at three years of age. 

11. Honorable Francis Walker, member of Congress, 
born June 22, 1764, who married Jane Byrd Nelson, 
granddaughter of Colonel William Byrd, of Westover. 
Their children were : (i) Jane Francis Walker, who mar- 
ried Doctor Mann Page, to whom were born twelve chil- 
dren, of whom Doctor Richard Channing Moore Page, of 
New York, author of the Page Family in Virginia, is the 
youngest ; (2) Thomas Hugh Walker, born in 1800 and 
died 1805 ; (3) Judith Page Walker, who was born March 
24, 1802, and married Honorable William C. Rives, 
United States Senator from Virginia and twice Minister 
to France. Their children were : {a) Francis Robert 
Rives, Secretary of Legation in London to Mr. Everett. 
His children were : a, George Lockhart Rives, Assistant 



2 2 Sketch of Doctor Thomas JValker. 

Secretary of State, United States, 1887-89, married first, 
Caroline Kean, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, who died leaving 
issue ; second, Mrs. Belmont, of New York, by whom he 
has also issue ; b, Ella Louise Rives, married David 
King, junior, of Newport, Rhode Island, and has children ; 
f, Francis R. Rives, junior, married first, Georgia Fellows, 
of New York, who died without issue ; he married a 
second time and died without issue ; d, Constance 

Rives, married Borland and has issue ; e, 

Maud Rives, twin sister of Constance, married Walker 
Bruce Smith, of New York City, and has issue ; 
f, Reginald William Rives, married, and has issue. 
{b) William Cabell Rives, who first published Doctor 
Walker's Journal in 1888, married Grace Winthrop Sears, 
of Boston, and left three children : Doctor William C. 
Rives, of New York, married Mary F. Rhinelander ; Alice 
Rives, and Arthur Landon Rives ; {c) Colonel Alfred 
Landon Rives, who was a prominent officer in the Engi- 
neer Corps in the Confederate service, and has latterly 
been in charge of the Panama Railway ; he is the father 
of Amelie Rives, the authoress ; {d) Amelie Louise Rives, 
who married Henry Sigourney, of Boston, and they, 
with their three children, were lost on the steamship 
Ville du Havre in 1873 ; (e) Ella Rives, died single 
in 1 89 1. 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 23 

12. The twelfth and last child of Doctor Walker was 
Peachy Walker, born February 6, 1767, who married 
Joshua Fry, son of John Fry, and grandson of Joshua 
Fry, senior, heretofore referred to. They came to Ken- 
tucky in 1788, and settled at Danville. Doctor Fry was 
a man of classical education and was a noted educator, 
taking into his family a few young men whom he taught 
with his own children. Among his scholars were some of 
the most prominent men of Kentucky. His descendants in 
Kentucky and other trans-Alleghany States are numerous 
and include many distinguished names. Their children 
were : 

1. Sallie, who married Honorable John Green. 

2. Lucy Gilmer, who became the second wife of Judge 
John Speed, of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Their 
children were : (a) Thomas, died in infancy ; {b) Lucy 
Fry, married Honorable James D. Breckinridge, of 
Louisville, Kentucky, member of Congress 1821-23, no 
issue ; {c) James, a distinguished lawyer of Louisville, 
and Attorney General in President Lincoln's Cabinet, 
married Jane Cochran and had issue ; (d) Peachy 
Walker, married Austin Peay, of Louisville, and had 
issue ; (e) Joshua Fry, married Fanny Henning, and had 
no issue ; he was the bosom friend of President Lincoln; 
(y) William Pope, married first, Mary Ellen Shallcross, 



24 Sketch of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

and had one son, James B. Speed, now a leading busi- 
ness man of Louisville ; second, Ardell Hutchinson, and 
had issue ; {g) Susan Fry, married B. O. Davis, and had 
issue ; {ft) Philip, Major and Collector of Internal Rev- 
enue, married Emma Keats, niece of John Keats, the 
poet, and left issue ; he was an estimable man ; (?) J. 
Smith, married first, Elizabeth Williamson, and had no 
issue; second, Susan Phillips, and left issue; (y) Susan 
Bell, married Thomas Adams, and had issue ; (k) Ann 
Pope, died in early childhood. 

3. Martha, who married David Bell, an Irish merchant 
of Danville, Kentucky, and was the mother of Honorable 
Joshua Fry Bell, a noted orator and member of Congress. 

4. Mildred Ann, who married Honorable William C. 
Bullitt, of Jefferson County, Kentucky, and was the mother 
of {a) Joshua F". Bullitt, Chief Justice of Kentucky, 1865; 
((5) John C. Bullitt, Esquire, a prominent lawyer of Phila- 
delphia; (r) Helen M., who married Doctor Henry Cheno- 
weth, of Jefferson County, Kentucky; {d~) Thomas Walker 
Bullitt, Esquire, a leading member of the Louisville 
bar; (e) Henry Massie Bullitt, of Jefferson County, Ken- 
tucky; (/) Susan, relict of Honorable Archibald Dixon, 
Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and United States 
Senator ; [g) James, Confederate soldier, killed in the 
war. 



Sketch of Doctor Thomas IValker. 25 

One of their sons, Thomas, was the father of Gen- 
eral Speed Smith Fry, a distinguished officer in the 
Mexican War and of the Federal service in the late 
war, and of the second wife of Doctor Lewis W. Green, 
whose daughter is the wife of ex- Vice President Adlai 
E. Stevenson. 

Another son, John, was the father of Major Carey 
Fry, of the regular army, and of Colonel John Fry, of 
the Kentucky Volunteers. 

This list might be expanded to the size of a volume 
without enumerating all the descendants of Doctor Walker, 
but this lies more in the domain of genealogy, upon which 
it is not well to trench too much. Enough has been given 
to show how widely the family tree planted by their dis- 
tinguished progenitor has expanded its branches. 

Doctor Walker, after he had passed the allotted span 
by nearly a decade, died at his home on November 9, 
1794. 

I know not how I can more appropriately close this 
sketch than by quoting the following concluding words of 
the memoir accompanying his journal, published in 1888, 
and written by his great-grandson, William Cabell Rives, 
LL. B.: 

' ' He was cheered in his declining years by the hap- 
piness and prosperity of his many children, and by seeing 



26 SkeicJi of Doctor TJioinas IValker. 

two of his sons in distinguished pubHc positions, the eld- 
est, who had been on the staff of Washington, a Senator, 
and the youngest a member of the House of Represen- 
tatives of the United States. At his much -loved home. 
Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia, he had built a 
house in 1765 which stands to-day in excellent preserva- 
tion. It is one of the few buildings still remaining on 
the soil of Virginia which are older than the beginning of 
the War of Independence. Its northwest front, looking on 
the neighboring Southwest mountains, is represented in the 
frontispiece of the volume now published by an engrav- 
ing due to Mr. Whymper, of London, the intrepid climber 
of the Alps and of the Andes. 

' ' This house is yet the home of some of the descendants 
of its first owner, who do honor to their lineage. For 
five generations it has been a seat of hospitality and cult- 
ure, and many time-honored associations now cluster about 
the house itself and the surrounding grounds. The slow- 
growing box trees, with archways cut through their ever- 
green sides, which border the lawn have climbed to the 
height of more than thirty feet, and tell the story to the 
most casual observer of the long years of their gradual 
ascent. The small panes of glass in the venerable-look- 
ing windows and the large brass door-locks of the house 
were brought from London, and are suggestive of ' ye 



2 E 




Sketch of Doctor Thomas IValker. 27 

olden time' when Virginia was a colony and looked for 
her supplies to the great mother city beyond the sea. 
In the ample square hall the youthful, music-loving Jeffer- 
son has played the violin while the still younger Madison 
has danced. Here Thomas Walker has gathered around 
him the Indians who had learned to know and respect 
him in the fastnesses of the primeval forest, and has given 
shelter to the Nelsons and other patriots from 'the lower 
country ' in the stormy times of the British invasion. 
Here the doors have opened to welcome five men who 
were either to be or were actually at the time presidents 
of the United States, and to many others who have made 
their mark as statesmen, judges, diplomatists, and soldiers ; 
and here with the flight of years the voices of mirth 
have been often hushed by the coming of the footsteps 
of sorrow. 

" In this home, the birthplace of his twelve children, the 
old pioneer, near the end of his eightieth year, on the 
9th of November, 1794, closed his eyes on earthly scenes. 
He lies in the midst of a neighboring grove, to which the 
purple redbud and the white dogwood lend in succession 
the beauty of their vernal bloom, and where the secular 
oak, the tall tulip tree, and the fragrant wild grape make 
a bower for the birds which in spring and summer time 
ceaselessly carol his requiem." 



Preface to Doctor Walker's Journal. 



"■ I "HE following letters from Doctor W. C. Rives, son 
■■• of William Cabell Rives, Esquire, who, in 1888, 
published the journal of Doctor Walker, were written to 
the editor after reading the latter 's paper read before the 
Filson Club, in 1894, on Doctor Walker's exploration, 
and in response to his request that he would endeavor 
to find the missing leaves of the journal : 

New York, December 21, 1894. 
Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston : 

Dear Sir : I was much pleased to receive your very kind 
letter and the valuable paper on Doctor Walker and his route, 
and will keep the latter carefully a little longer before returning 
it. . . . Very truly yours, 

William C. Rives. 

New York, December 29, 1894. 
Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston : 

Dear Sir : I have been intending at some time to publish a 
new edition of Doctor Walker's Journal, but in the mean while, to 
aid you in tracing out his route further, I have much pleasure 
in sending you a copy of the missing part of the journal describ- 
ing his crossing of Powell's River and passage of Cumberland 
Gap. So much detail is given that I suppose this part of his 
journey will be especially easy to follow. Beargrass, the name 
he gave to Powell's River, appears on Mitchell's Treaty Map of 



30 Preface to Doctor Walker's yournal. 

1785. With regard to the position of the settlement, I suppose 
that the details must have been given by Doctor Walker, and that 
by chance more or less the latitude and longitude were put down 
correctly, while in other respects the map is incorrect. I very 
soon saw after the publication of the journal, by a more careful 
study of the maps, that he had not gone anywhere near the Salt 
or Green River, and your location of his settlement is just about 
where I should have supposed it to be. With regard to Roose- 
velt's statement. Colonel John P. Hale (Trans-Alleghany Pioneer 
Sketches, page 15) says that Doctor Walker, Colonel James 
Patton, Colonel Buchanan, Colonel Wood, and Major Campbell 
penetrated through Cumberland Gap in 1748, but this is of course 
not true. Mention of this party's visit to Tennessee is to be 
found in Morse's Geography, and I think it is referred to in 
Haywood's Tennessee, though at the moment I can not refer to 
either. . . . yours truly, 

William C. Rives. 

The missing leaves referred to in the above letter 
covered the ten days from April loth to April 20th, 1750. 
The following letter refers to the missing leaves covering 
the first ten days of the trip, which were sent to me in 
full some time later : 

New York, January 23, 1895. 
Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston : 

Dear Sir : Please excuse me for having kept your paper so 
long, which I now return with my thanks. ... I am able to con- 
firm your supposition about Doctor Walker's companions from the 
unpublished beginning of his journal. He commences : "Having on 
the 1 2th day of December last been employed for a consideration 



Preface to Doctor IValker's yoitriial. 31 

to go to the westward to discover a proper place for a settlement, 
I left my house on the Sixth day of March, at lo o'clock, 1749-50, 
in company with Ambrose Powell, William Tomlinson, Colby 
Chew, Henry Lawless, and John Hughes. Each man had a horse, 
and we had two to carry baggage." . . . 

Yours truly, 

William C. Rives. 

When I first conceived the idea of making Doctor 

Walker's Journal the subject of a Filson publication, I 

wrote to Doctor Rives with regard to his intention as 

stated in one of the foregoing letters, and in reply received 

the following letter : 

New York, December 11, 1895. 
Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston : 

My Dear Sir : It will give me much pleasure to consent to 
your reprinting the whole journal and making use of the memoir, 
and I feel that it is very appropriate that it should appear as a 
Filson Club publication. Your valuable paper and the entire 
journal published together under such auspices will no doubt 
attract attention and cause an increased interest to be felt in 
Doctor Walker and his expedition. ... I will shortly send you a 
copy of the first ten days' journal. 

Very truly yours, 

William C. Rives. 

It had been my purpose to bring out this publication 
a year sooner, but the Siege of Bryan's Station having 
precedence, it was postponed until now. The additional 
time thus gained has enabled me to give more thorough 



32 Preface to Doc toy Walker's yournal. 

notes to the text of the journal and to include in the 
publication the journal of Christopher Gist, the two form- 
ing the very foundation of Kentucky's history. 

I can not too fully express my obligations to Doctor 
Rives for his valuable assistance in my work. 

J. Stoddard Johnston. 




MAP SHOWING 
ROUTES OF WALKER AND GIST 



.... WALKERS ROUTE 
I X X X GIST'S ROUTE 



JOURNAL OF 

Doctor Thomas Walker ^ 

1749-50.^ 

T TAVING, on the 12th of December last, been employed 
■'■■'■ for a certain consideration ^ to go to the Westward 
in order to discover a proper Place for a Settlement, I 
left my house on the Sixth day of March, at 10 o'clock, 
1749-50, in Company with Ambrose Powell,'' William 
Tomlinson,^ Colby Chew,^ Henry Lawless & John Hughs. 

' In Mr. Rives' text the journal of the first ten days is missing, but is 
here supplied from the lost leaves recovered as stated in preface. 

^At this time the new year in England and its Colonies began on the 
25th of March, so that when this journal began it was still the year 
1749. The change by which the first of January began the new year 
was made in 1752. 

5 His contract was with the Loyal Land Company, which had a grant 
of eight hundred thousand acres of land to be located north of the dividing 
line between Virginia and North Carolina, comprised in the territory now 
embraced in Kentucky. 

■* Ambrose Powell was a surveyor and prominent citizen of Culpeper 
County, Virginia, of enterprise and note. He was the great-grandfather of 
General Ambrose Powell Hill, of the Confederate army. He had a son 
named Ambrose Powell, who was an officer in the Revolution. A descend- 
ant of the same name was County Judge of Jackson County, Kentucky, 
and another represented the county in the legislature. Other descendants 
are in Boyle and Mercer counties. 

5 William Tomlinson was a Virginian who afterward became one of the 
settlers at Bryan's Station, near Lexington, Kentucky, and was in the fort 
when it was besieged, August 16, 1782. He settled near Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, and left descendants. He is sometimes referred to as William 
Tomerlin. See Daniel Bryan's letter, Appendix A. 

' Colby Chew was the son of Colonel Thomas Chew and Martha Taylor. 
His paternal grandfather was Larkin Chew, and his paternal grandmother 



y 



34 journal of Doctor Thomas IValker. 

Each man had a Horse and we had two to carry the 
Baggage. I lodged this night at Col. Joshua Fry's,' in 
Albemarle, which County includes the Chief of the head 
Branches of James River on the East side of the Blue 
Ridge. 

March 7th. Wee set off about 8, but the day proving 
wet, we only went to Thomas Joplin's on Rockfish. This 
is a pretty River, which might at a small expense be made 
fit for transporting Tobacco ; but it has lately been stopped 
by a Mill Dam near the Mouth to the prejudice of the 
upper inhabitants who would at their own expense clear 
and make it navigable, were they permitted. 

March 8th. We left Joplin's early. It began to rain 
about Noon. I left my People at Thomas Jones's and 

Hannah Ross. His mother, Martha Taylor, was a daughter of James 
Taylor and Martha Thompson. The grandfather of President Taylor was 
a brother of James Taylor, and a sister, Frances Taylor, was the grand- 
mother of President Madison. The Chews were from Orange County, 
Virginia, a branch of the Maryland Chew family. Colby Chew was a 
Captain in Washington's regiment, 1757-8, and was killed in Grant's 
defeat in Bouquet's expedition iu front of Fort Duquesne, 1758. His name 
is frequently mentioned in Washington's correspondence. 

" Colonel Joshua Fry, Washington's senior in command of the Virginia 
forces, died May 31, 1754, after the troops had reached the mouth of 
Will's Creek. Joint author, with Peter Jefferson, of Fry and Jefferson's 
Map of Virginia. His grandson, Joshua Fry, married Peachy, the youngest 
daughter of Doctor Walker. He was also one of the Commissioners of 
the Crown in continuing the line between Virginia and North Carolina. 
See "Memoirs of Colonel Joshua Fry," by Reverend Philip Slaughter, D. D. 



yoitrnal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 35 

went to the Reverend Mr. Robert Rose's' on Tye River. 
This is about the Size of Rockfish, as yet open, but how 
long the Avarice of Millers will permit it to be so, I know 
not. At present, the Inhabitants enjoy plenty of fine fish, 
as Shad in their Season, Carp, Rocks, Fat-Backs which I 
suppose to be Tench, Perch, Mullets, etc. 

9th. As the weather continues unlikely, I moved only 
to Baylor Walker's^ Quarters. 

March loth. The weather is still cloudy, and leaving 
my People at the Quarter, I rode to Mr. John Harvie's,^ 
where I dined and return 'd to the Quarter in ye Evening. 

nth. The Sabbath.* 

March 12th. We crossed the Fluvanna' & lodged at 
Thomas Hunt's. 

'Mentioned in Bishop Mead's "Old Churches and Families of Virginia." 

^This could hardly have been Baylor Walker, the son of Doctor Walker's 
brother John, who would have been about fourteen years old at this time. 
See "Page Family in Virginia," Second Edition, page 200. 

3 John Harvie, bom in Gargannock, Scotland, emigrated to Virginia in 
early manhood, and settled in Albemarle County. He was a lawyer of 
ability, and speedily attained a large and lucrative practice, thus laying the 
basis of his subsequent wealth. In 1774 he was appointed with Doctor 
Thomas Walker, by the General Assembly, a Commissioner to treat with 
the Western Indians after their defeat at Point Pleasant, October 10th, by 
Andrew Lewis. He represented West Augusta County in the Conventions 
of 1775 and 1776, etc. See "Virginia Historical Collections," Volume 
VI, New Series, Richmond, 1887, note on page 83. 

^ It will be noticed in this journal that Doctor Walker, save in one or 
two instances when necessity required it, did not travel on Sunday. 

5 The Upper James, above the mouth of the Rivaana. 



36 yoiirnal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 

13th. We went early to William Calloway's' and 
supplied ourselves with Rum, Thread, and other nec- 
essaries & from thence took the main Waggon Road 
leading to Wood's or the New^ River. It is not well 
clear'd or beaten yet, but will be a very good one with 
proper management. This night we lodged in Adam 
Beard's low grounds. Beard is an ignorant, impudent, 
brutish fellow, and would have taken us up, had it not 
been for a reason, easily to be suggested. 

14th. We went from Beard's to Nicholas Welches, 
where we bought corn for our horses, and had some 
Victuals dress'd for Breakfast, afterwards we crossed the 
Blue Ridge. The Ascent and Descent is so easie that 

' Brother of Colonel Richard Callaway, who accompauied Boone to 
Kentucky in 1775. 

^This river was first discovered in 1671 by Colonel Abraham Wood, 
who lived at the falls of the Appomattox, now Petersburg, Virginia. The 
line of his exploration was near and parallel to that of the boundary line 
between Virginia and North Carolina as run in 1728-29, and described by 
Colonel William Byrd, one of the Virginia Commissioners, in "The West- 
over Papers." He crossed the Alleghany Mountains by a gap called 
Wood's (now Flower) Gap, and, passing down Little River, reached New 
River not a great distance above Ingles' Ferry, mentioned later in these 
notes. It was long called both Wood's and New River, but the latter 
name is now used exclusively. (Manuscript journal of Thomas Batts, 1671, 
in Colonel Durrett's library gives the details of Colonel Wood's expe- 
dition.) 

The Kanawha River was in early days commonly supposed to signify, 
in the Indian tongue, "River of the Woods," but the name of Wood's 
River, as it was for some time called, evidently came from that of New 
River, its main branch. Hale, page 48. 



yournal of Doctor Thomas IValker. t^-j 

a Stranger would not know when he crossed the Ridge.' 
It began to rain about Noon and continued till night. 
We lodged at William Armstrong's. Corn is very scarce 
in these Parts. 

March 15th. We went to the great Lick' on A Branch 
of the Staunton & bought Corn of Michael Campbell for 
our Horses. This Lick has been one of the best places 
for Game in these parts and would have been of much 
greater advantage to the Inhabitants than it has been 
if the Hunters had not killed the Buffaloes ^ for diversion, 
and the Elks and Deer for their skins. This afternoon 
we got to the Staunton where the Houses of the Inhab- 
itants had been carryed off with their grain and Fences 
by the Fresh last Summer, and lodged at James Robinson's, 
the only place I could hear of where they had Corn to 
spare, notwithstanding the land is such that an industrious 
man might make 100 barrels a share in a Seasonable year. 

' This was at Buford's Gap (one thousand two hundred and ninety- 
three feet), in Bedford County, through which the Norfolk & Western 
Railroad now passes. 

°This locality is now occupied by the thri\'ing town of Roanoke, in 
the county of the same name. 

3 It has been a generally received opinion that there were no buffalo 
east of the Blue Ridge, but while the locality here named is west of that 
mountain, it is not likely that the limit of their range was bounded by it. 
Colonel Byrd killed buffalo in 1729 at points on the boundary line southeast 
of Roanoke, between which and the coast there was no mountain. He 
states that it was not believed that they went further north than the 
latitude of 40. 



38 your mil of Doctor Thoinas Walker. 

1 6th March.' We kept up the Staunton' to WiUiam 
EngHshes.'" He Hves on a small Branch, and was not 
much hurt by the Fresh. He has a mill, which is the 
furthest back except one lately built by the Sect of People, 
who call themselves of the Brotherhood of Euphrates, 

' First hiatus ends here, and Mr. Rives' text first begins with this 
date. 

^The north fork of the Roanoke River formed by the junction of the 
Staunton and the Dan rivers in Halifax County, about ten miles north of 
the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina. It rises in the 
Alleghany Mountains and flows southeast. The upper portion of Staunton 
River is now called Roanoke, the lower portion Staunton, and after the 
junction with the Dan the Roanoke again. 

3 William English, properly Ingles, with his father, Thomas Ingles, and 
family, and a family named Draper, all Scotch-Irish, had recently come 
from Pennsylvania. They, together with Colonel James Patton and William 
Preston, his nephew, lived neighbors in what was called Draper's Bottom, 
the scene of a bloody tragedy five years later. On the 8th of July, 
1755, the day before Braddock's defeat, a party of Shawnee Indians from 
Ohio fell upon the settlement and killed, wounded, or captured nearly 
every soul there. Colonel James Patton, Mrs. George Draper, Casper 
Barrier, and a child of John Draper were killed; Mrs. John Draper and 
James Cull were wounded ; Mrs. William Ingles and two children, boys, 
two and four years old, Mrs. John Draper, and Henry Leonard were taken 
prisoners ; and William Preston, afterwards Surveyor of Fincastle, escaped 
by having gone to a distant neighbor's a short time before the incursion. 
Mrs. Mary Ingles, wife of William Ingles, was taken to Ohio and thence 
to Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, whence she made her escape and reached 
home afoot in forty days, after many perils and hardships. She was the 
first white woman recorded as having been in Kentucky. See Collins' 
"History of Kentucky," Volume I, pages 53-4. "Draper's Meadows" 
afterward became the home of William Preston, and was called by him 
Smithfield. 

* Near the present village of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. 
(Note in Mr. Rives' text.) 



yournal of Doctor Thomas IValker. 39 

{ 1 7th) and are commonly called the Duncards, ' who are the 
upper inhabitants of the New River, which is about 400 
yards wide at this place. They live on the west side, 
and we were obliged to swim our Horses over.^ The 
Duncards are an odd set of people, who make it a matter 
of Religion not to Shave their Beards, ly on Beds, or 
eat Flesh, though at present, in the last, they transgress, 
being constrained to it, as they say, by the want of a 
sufficiency of Grain and Roots, they having not long been 
seated here. I doubt the plenty and deliciousness of the 
Venison & Turkeys has contributed not a little to this. 
The unmarried have no private Property, but live on a 
common Stock. They dont baptize either Young or Old, 
they keep their Sabbath on Saturday, & hold that all 
men shall be happy hereafter, but first must pass through 
punishment according to their Sins. They are very hos- 
pitable. 

' Dunkards, Dunkers, and Tunkers, a German Baptist sect, with some 
features of Quakerism, who formed a settlement called Euphrata, in Penn- 
sylvania, forty miles from Philadelphia, and at an early day spread up the 
Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. The Shenandoah River was first named 
the Euphrates by Governor Spottswood in 1716, when he crossed the Blue 
Ridge at Swift Run Gap, in his celebrated "Horse Shoe " expedition, and 
viewed the fertility of that region for the first time. 

^ This crossing of New River was near the present crossing of the turn- 
pike which runs from Wytheville to Christiansburg, and several miles above 
the crossing of the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. It was 
afterward known as Ingles' Ferry. It is still owned and occupied by 
descendants of William and Mary Ingles. 



4° 



yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 



March i8th. The Sabbath. 

19th. We could not find our Horses and spent the 
day in Looking for them. In the evening we found 
their track. 

20th. We went very early to the track of our 
Horses & after following them six or seven miles, we 
found them all together, we returned to the Duncards 
about 10 o'clock, and having purchased half a Busshell of 
meal and as much small Homony we set off and Lodged 
on a small Run between Peak Creek' and Reedy' 
Creek. 

March 21st. We got to Reedy ^ Creek and Camped 
near James McCall's. I went to his House and Lodged 
and bought what Bacon I wanted. 

' Peak Creek enters the New River near the village of Newbern, in 
Pulaski County. (Note in Mr. Rives' text.) 

° Probably Reed Creek, in Wythe County. (Note in Mr. Rives' 
text.) 

'This is now called Reed Creek, which heads west of Wytheville and 
runs east a little south of the town, emptying into New River above Ingles'. 
Its waters interlock with those of the Holston. The watershed is low 
and the valley fertile. The site of Fort Chiswell, built by the second 
Colonel William Byrd, under direction of Washington, in 1758, is between 
New River and Wytheville on this trail, parallel and near to which the 
turnpike and railroad run. It was named for Colonel John Chiswell, then 
in charge of the lead works nearby, from which the principal supply of 
lead used in the Revolutionary War and the Confederate supply in the 
late Civil War were obtained. Colonel Chiswell was succeeded in charge of 
the lead works by the father of Stephen F. Austin, of Texas, for whom 
the Capital of that State is named, and who was born here. Hale's 



yournal of Doctor Thomas IValker. 4 1 

22nd. I returned to my People early. We got to a 
large Spring about five miles below Davises Bottom on 
Holstons' River and Camped. 

23rd. We kept down Holston's' River about four 
miles and Camped ; and then Mr. Powel and I went to 
look for Samuel Stalnaker,^ who I had been inform'd was 
just moved out to settle. We found his Camp, and 
returned to our own in the Evening. 

24th. We went to Stalnaker's, helped him to raise 
his house and Camped about a quarter of a mile below 

Trans-AUeghany Sketches. To the north of the valley there is a range 
known yet as Walker's Mountain. 

'This was the Middle Fork of the Holston, which joins the French 
Broad near Knoxville and forms the Tennessee. The Holston was called 
by the Indians first the Cat-Cloo, afterward the Watauga. It took its 
present name from an early hunter and explorer named Holston. Hay- 
wood's Tennessee. 

^ Samuel Stalnaker was probably, as his name indicates, one of the 
early pioneers from the Lower Shenandoah Valley or from Pennsylvania, 
of German descent, the family having numerous representatives in the 
valley. He was doubtless a hunter and Indian trader who had visited 
the Cherokees and was acquainted with the route to Cumberland Gap, 
upon which Doctor Walker had never been, or he would not have needed a 
guide. It was from him evidently that Doctor Walker received information 
as to certain localities he was about to visit, as Clinch River, Cave Gap, 
and other points of which, as he advanced into Kentucky, he gave evidence 
of previous information. It is not improbable that the route from the 
Ohio River to Cumberland Gap and the Cherokee country, which at that 
time was defined and known as "the Warriors' Path," was traveled by 
hunters and traders, and that Stalnaker was acquainted with it personally 
or from others. On Fry and Jefferson's Map, 1751, Stalnaker's settlement 
is put down as the extreme western habitation. 

9 



42 'yo24rnal of Docto/ Tliouias PValker. 

him. In April, 1748/ I met the above mentioned Stal- 
naker between the Reedy Creek Settlement and Hol- 
stons River, on his way to the Cherokee Indians,^ and 
expected him to pilate me as far as he knew but his 
affairs would not permit him to go with me. 

March 25th. The Sabbath. Grass is plenty in the 
low grounds. 

26th. We left the Inhabitans, ' and kept nigh West 
to a large Spring on a Branch of the North fork of 
Holston. Thunder, Lightning, and Rain before Day. 

27th. It began to Snow in the morning and con- 
tinued till Noon. The Land is very hilly from West to 

'From the fact that Doctor Walker was here in 1748, historians have 
fallen into the error of stating that it was in this year that he went to 
Cumberland Gap, in company with Colonel James Patton, Major Charles 
Campbell, and others, but there is nothing upon which the assertion rests 
except a misty tradition. It is doubtless based upon the fact that these 
gentlemen, in 1748, Doctor Walker being one of the number, made an 
exploration, with a view to taking up lands, as some of them did, on the 
Holston, in East Tennessee. This region then began to excite attention 
for settlement, and in the following year the boundai-y line between Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina was extended to a point beyond that at which 
Doctor Walker was this day. 

^ The Cherokee Indians occupied East Tennessee and a part of North- 
west Georgia adjacent. They were at that time, and until 1759, friendly 
and very faithful to the whites, furnishing volunteers in the early part of 
the French and Indian War. They were thus deadly enemies of the Shaw- 
nees and other tribes north of the Ohio, but in the Revolutionary War 
they united with them under British influence against the Americans. 

3 Inhabitans — inhabitants, settlers, meaning that he had passed the 
frontier of civilization. 



yoiiyiial of Doctor Thomas IValker. 43 

North. Some Snow lies on the tops of the mountains 
N. W. from us. 

28th. We travelled to the lower end of Giant's Ditch 
on Reedy Creek.' 

29th. Our Dogs were very uneasie most of this 
Night. 

30th. We kept down Reedy Creek,' and discover'd 
the tracks of about 20 Indians, that had gone up the 
Creek between the time we Camped last Night, and 
set of? this Morning. We suppose they made our 
Dogs so restless last Night. We Camped on Reedy 
Creek. 

March 30th. We caught two young Buffaloes one of 
which we killed, and having cut and marked the other 
we turn'd him out. 

31st. We kept down Reedy Creek to Holston where 
we measured an Elm 25 feet round 3 feet from the 

'Enters the South Fork of the Holston River a short distance above 
its junction with the North Fork. (Note in Mr. Rives' text.) 

^ Reedy Creek empties into the Holston at the foot of Long Island, 
a uoted locality in the early history of Tennessee. Nearby a fort was 
erected, by advice of Washington, in 1758, by Colonel William Byrd, which 
was known later as Fort Patrick Henry. Just below the mouth of Reedy 
Creek is the town of Kingsport, Sullivan County, and a short distance 
below the town the North Fork puts into the Holston. It was at this 
place the treaty of Watauga was held in March, 1775, when the Chero- 
kees sold to Richard Henderson and Company the land in Kentucky called 
Transylvania. 



44 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

Ground, we saw young Sheldrakes, ' we went down the 
River to the north Fork and up the north Fork about a 
quarter of a mile to a Ford, and then crossed it. In the 
Fork between Holstons and the North River, are five 
Indian Houses built with loggs and covered with Bark, 
and there were abundance of Bones, some whole Pots 
and Pans, some broken, and many pieces of mats and 
Cloth. On the West Side of the North River, is four 
Indian Houses such as before mentioned, we went four 
miles Below the North River and Camped on the Bank 
of Holstons, opposite to a large Indian Fort. 

April ye ist. The Sabbath, we saw Perch, Mullets, 
and Carp in plenty, and caught one of the large Sort of 
Cat Fish. I marked my Name, the day of the Month, 
and date of the year on Several Beech Trees. 

2nd. we left Holston' & travelled through small Hills 
till about Noon, when one of our Horses being choaked 
by eating Reeds ^ too gredily, we stopped having travelled 
7 miles. 

3rd. Our horse being recover'd, we travelled to the 

' A large migratory duck, with some resemblance to a goose of the 
genus Tadorna. By some it is ascribed to the Merganser family. Mr. 
Jefferson in his Notes speaks of it as a canvasback. 

'^ On leaving the Holston River his route was northwest. 

3 The cane common to the South and West, known to the pioneers as 
Carolina cane — Ariindinaria macrosperma. 



yoiirnal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 45 

Rocky Ridge.' I went up to the top, to look for a Pass, 
but found it so Rocky that I concluded not to Attempt 
it there. This Ridge may be known by Sight, at a dis- 
tance. To the Eastward are many small Mountains, and 
a Buffaloe Road between them and the Ridge. The growth 
is Pine on the Top and the Rocks look white at a dis- 
tance, we went Seven miles this day. 

4th. We kept under the Rocky Ridge crossing several 
small Branches to the head of Holly Creek, we saw 
many small Licks and plenty of Deer. 

April 5th. we went down Holly Creek. There is 
much Holly in the Low Grounds & some Laurel and Ivy. 
About 3 in the afternoon, the Ridge appeared less stony 
and we passed it,^ and Camped on a small Branch about 

'The Clinch Mountain, which runs through part of East Tennessee 
and Southwest Virginia in a northeasterly direction, a very regular chain 
with gaps at long intervals. The small hills referred to are the parallel 
outliers of Clinch Mountain. 

' He crossed Clinch Mountain most probably at Looney's Gap and 
reached the Clinch River above the present site of Sneedville, Hancock 
County, Tennessee. Thence he went up Greasy Creek northwestward and 
entered the narrow valley between Newman's Ridge and Powell's Mountain, 
running parallel to the Clinch. The former, or Eastern Ridge, as Doctor 
Walker calls it, is twenty-five hundred feet high, and the latter, or Western 
Ridge, two thousand feet high, as shown by the excellent contour map of 
the United States Geological Survey, with the details of which Doctor 
Walker's route, as indicated by his journal, agrees with striking accuracy. 
On the nth Doctor Walker went down Big Sycamore Creek, which runs 
southwest between these ridges, to its junction with an unnamed creek 
coming into it from the southwest. He traveled up the latter by a buffalo 
road over several divides, and on the 12th reached Powell's River, ten 
miles from Cumberland Gap. 



46 yojinial of Docior Thomas IValker. 

a mile from the top. my Riding Horse choaked himself 
this Evening and I drenched him with water to wash 
down the Reeds, and it answered the End. 

6th. It proving wet we did not move. 

7th. We rode 8 miles over broken Land. It snowed 
most of the day. In the Evening our dogs caught a 
large He Bear, which before we could come up to shoot 
him had wounded a dog of mine, so that he could 
not Travel, and we carried him on Horseback," till he 
recovered. 

8th. The Sabbath. Still Snow. 

9th. We travelled to a river, which I suppose to 
be that which the hunters Call Clinches River' from one 
Clinch a Hunter, who first found it. we marked several 
Beeches on the East side, we could not find a ford 

' Doctor Walker's humanity to the dogs on this trip is notable. His 
fondness for them was long traditional in his family. On one occasion 
when he returned home after a long absence on a surveying or exploring 
trip, a favorite dog, which was shut up in a room, hearing his voice in 
the yard, is said to have jumped through a window-shutter in his eagerness 
to greet him. 

'A tributary of the Tennessee running parallel with Clinch Mountain, 
rising in Tazewell and Bland counties, Virginia, and interlocking with the 
Bluestone River and Wolf Creek, tributaries of New River. His correct 
nomenclature of the river indicates that he had received information con- 
cerning the route traveled from Staluaker or other source. Haywood's 
History of Tennessee, in accounting for the name, ascribes it to an incident, 
which dates eleven years later than Doctor Walker's visit, in which a man 
on the point of drowning called to his companions, "Clinch me ! clinch me ! " 



youynal of Doctor Tlioinas JValker. a^j 

Shallow eneugh to carry our Baggage over on our horses. 
Ambrose Powell Forded over on one horse, and we drove 
the others after him. We then made a Raft and carried 
over one Load of Baggage, but when the Raft was brought 
back, it was so heavy that it would not carry anything 
more dry. 

April loth. we waded and carryed the remainder of our 
Baggage on our shoulders at two turns over the River, 
which is about one hundred and thirty yards wide, 
we went on about five miles and Camped on a small 
Branch. 

April iith.' Having travelled 5 miles to and over an 
High Mountain, we came to Turkey Creek, which we kept 
down 4 miles. It lies between two Ridges of Mountains, 
that to the Eastward being the highest.' 

12th. We kept down the Creek 2 miles further, where 
it meets with a large Branch coming from the South 
West, and thence runs through the East Ridge making a 
very good Pass ; and a large Buffaloe Road goes from 
that Fork to the Creek over the West Ridge, which we 
took and found the Ascent and Descent tollerably easie. 
From this Mountain we rode four miles to Beargrass 

' The second hiatus of ten days in Rives' text, now supplied by the 
missing leaves, began here. 

^ Now Big Sycamore Creek. See note to entry of April 5th, ante. 



48 yonnial of Doctor Tlionias IValkcr. 

River.' Small Cedar Trees are very plenty on the flat 
ground nigh the River, and some Barberry trees on the 
East side of the River, on the Banks is some Bear- 
Grass. We kept up the River two miles. I found some 
Small pieces of Coal'' and a great plenty of very good 
yellow Flint. The water is the most transparent I ever 
saw. It is about 70 yds. wide. 

April 13th. We went four miles to large Creek, which 
we called Cedar Creek, being a Branch of Bear-Grass, and 
from thence Six miles to Cave Gap,^ the land being Levil. 
On the North side of the Gap is a large Spring, which 

'Appears as such on Mitchell's Treaty Map, 1785. Named afterward 
Powell's River, as now called, by the Long Hunters — a body of fifteen or 
twenty Virginians who reached Kentucky in 1770 — from finding a tree with 
"A. Powell," one of Doctor Walker's companions, cut on it. It was named 
by Doctor Walker from the bear-grass ( Yucca filamentosa ) growing on 
its banks. The bear were said to be fond of its spike of white umbellifer- 
ous flowers, growing to the height of four or five feet, and very sweet 
with honey within them. 

^ There is no coal hereabouts, but this was doubtless washed down from 
the headwaters, above Big Stone Gap, where it is abundant. The yellow 
flint abounds in this geological horizon in Powell's Valley. 

5 Named later by Doctor Walker Cumberland Gap, after William 
Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George II and Queen Caroline. He 
was born April 15, 1731, and at nineteen entered the navy, but two years 
later became a soldier. In 1743 he commanded the left wing under his 
father at the battle of Dettingen, and in 1745 was in command of the 
army in Flanders. On the i6th of April, 1746, in the last battle fought 
in Great Britain, at Culloden he defeated with great slaughter the Highland 
forces which supported the fortunes of the young Pretender, refusing quarter 
to the wounded and prisoners. He died October 31, 1765. Byron calls 
him "The Butcher," 



yoiirnol of Doctor Thomas IValker. 49 

falls very fast, and just above the Spring is a small 
Entrance to a large Cave, which the Spring' runs through, 
and there is a constant Stream of Cool air issuing out. 
The Spring is sufficient to turn a Mill. Just at the foot 
of the Hill is a Laurel Thicket, and the Spring Water 
runs through it. On the South side is a plain Indian 
Road, on the top of the Ridge are Laurel Trees marked 
with crosses, others Blazed and several Figures on them. 
As I went down on the Other Side, I soon came to some 
Laurel^ in the head of a Branch. A Beech ^ stands on the 
left hand, on which I cut my name. This Gap may be 
seen at a considerable distance, and there is no other, 
that I know of, except one about two miles to the North 
of it,^ which does not appear to be So low as the other. 
The Mountain on the North Side of the Gap is very 
Steep and Rocky, but on the South side it is not So. 
We called it Steep Ridge. At the foot of the hill on the 

' The spring, which later turned a mill, and the cave are still promi- 
nent features. 

''Rhododendron maximum, generally a shrubby growth, but sometimes 
attains a diameter of six inches or over. 

3 In 1779, when Doctor Walker passed here as a Commissioner on the 
part of Virginia running the present boundarj' line between Kentucky and 
Tennessee, he pointed out the tree to Isaac Shelby, who commanded the 
escort, telling him his name had been cut on it in 1750, and on going to 
it they found it as stated. Bradford's manuscript notes. Colonel Durrett's 
Library. 

'' There is no gap at the point indicated — merely a slight depression 
of the range of mountains, without approaches. 



50 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

North West Side we came to a Branch, that made a 
great deal of flat Land. We kept down it 2 miles, Sev- 
eral other Branches Coming in to make it a large Creek, 
and we called it Blat Creek.' We camped on the Bank 
where we found very good Coal. I did not Se any Lime 
Stone beyond this Ridge. We rode 13 miles this day. 

April 14th. We kept down the Creek 5 miles Chiefly 
along the Indian Road. 

15th. Easter Sunday. Being in bad grounds for our 
Horses we moved 7 miles along the Indian Road, to Clover 
Creek. Clover and Hop Vines are plenty here. 

April 1 6th. Rai(n). I made a Pair of Indian Shoes, 
those I brought out being bad. 

17th. Still Rain. I went down the Creek- a hunt- 
ing and found that it went into a River about a mile 
below our Camp. This, which is Flat Creek and Some 
others join'd, I called Cumberland River. 

1 8th. Still Cloudy. We kept down the Creek to 
the River along the Indian Road to where it crosses.^ 

' Present Yellow Creek, upon which, nearby, is now the site of Mid- 
dlesborough. Coal abounds in this vicinity. 

^ Clear (Clover) Creek empties into Cumberland River just above Pine- 
ville, where the river breaks through Pine Mountain, a range parallel to 
Cumberland Mountain, eight or ten miles distant. Yellow (Flat) Creek 
empties into it several miles above. 

3 This crossing was just below the present Pineville Station of the 
Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and the bridge which crosses from it to 



yournal of Doctor Thomas IValker. 5 1 

Indians have lived about this Ford Some years ago. We 
kept on down the South Side. After riding 5 miles from 
our Camp, we left the River, it being very crooked. In 
Rideing 3 miles we came on it again. It is about 60 or 
70 yds. wide. We rode 8 (?) miles this day. 

19th. We left the River but in four miles we came 
on it again at the Mouth of Licking Creek, which we 
went up and down another.' In the Fork of Licking 
Creek is a Lick much used by Buffaloes and many large' 
Roads lead to it. This afternoon Ambrose Powell was 
bit by a Bear in his Knee. We rode 7 miles this 
day. 

20th. we kept down the Creek ^ 2 miles to the River 
again. It appears not any wider here than at the mouth 

Pineville, the county-seat of Bell County, immediately opposite. It was 
long known as Cumberland Ford, the crossing of the Indian warpath and 
the Wilderness Road, blazed by Boone in 1775. General Bragg's army 
forded the Cumberland here in October, 1862, on its retreat South after 
the battle of Perryville. 

' These diversions from the river were caused by encountering the 
streams which were not fordable at or near their mouths and necessitated 
a detour to their head or a place where they could be forded. The point 
at which Dr. Walker crossed the Cumberland to the north side was about 
four miles below the present site of Barbourville, the county-seat of Knox 
County, and about fifteen miles below the crossing at Pineville by the 
ordinarily traveled road on the north side. 

'The second hiatus ended here, the word large being the first one in 
the entry of the 19th in Mr. Rives' text. 

3 This creek, now known as Swan Pond Creek, was named by Daniel 
Boone. 



52 yournal of Doc toy Thomas Walker. 

of Clover Creek, but much deeper. I thought it proper 
to Cross the River and began a bark Conoe. ' 

April 2 1 St. We finished the Conoe and tryed her. 
About noon it began to thunder, lighten, hail and rain 
prodigiously and continued about 2 hours. 

2 2d. The Sabbath. One of the horses was found 
unable to walk this morning. I then Propos'd that with 
2 of the Company I would proceed, and the other three 
should Continue here till our return, which was agreed 
to, and Lots were drawn to determine who should go, 
they all being desirous of it. Ambrose Powell, and Colby 
Chew were the fortunate Persons. 

23rd. Having carried our Baggage over in the Bark 
Conoe, and Swam our horses, we all crossed the River. 
Then Ambrose Powell, Colby Chew, and I departed. 
Leaving the others to provide and salt some Bear, 
build an house, and plant some Peach Stones and Corn. 

' A bark canoe was made from the bark of a hickory or elm tree of 
suitable size. The process was to cut through the bark near the ground 
and at a height of fifteen or twenty feet ; then to make a vertical slit 
from top to bottom and gradually detach the whole from the tree, which 
could be easily done at this season of the year when the sap was up. 
By cutting a wedge-shaped piece from each end and bringing the parts 
together, a rake fore and aft was given. The seams at the end were 
sewed together with sinews or young bark, and made water-tight by smear- 
ing with the fat of the deer. The edges of the bark were held apart by 
cleats or sticks of proper width, and a canoe could thus be made in a 
short time. 



yournal of Doctor T/ioiiias Walker. 53 

We travelled about 12 miles and encamped on Crooked 
Creek.' The mountains are very small hereabouts and 
here is a great deal of flat Land. We got through the 
Coal today. 

April 24th. We kept on Westerly 18 miles, got Clear 
of the mountains and found the Land poor and the 
woods very Thick beyond them, and Laurel & Ivy ' in and 
near the Branches. Our Horses suffered very much here 
for want of food. This day we Came on the fresh Track 
of 7 or 8 Indians, but could not overtake them.' 

25th. We kept on West 5 miles, the Land continu- 
ing much Same, the Laurel rather growing worse, and 
the food scarcer. I got up a tree on a Ridge and saw 
the Growth of the Land much the same as F"ar as my 

' The general course taken by Doctor Walker was northwest and west- 
erly. The topography of the country to-day is true to the description. 
From the Valley of the Cumberland, which is not broad, the hills rise, not 
precipitously or in cliffs, to the height of several hundred feet, and coal 
veins, or "the blossom," as it is called, can be seen in exposed places. 
When the summit of the hill is reached, it spreads out to the northwest 
as a table-land with slashes wooded chiefly with oak, laurel, and spice- 
wood. 

^ Kalmia latifolia. 

3 It will be observed that the discovery of these tracks excited no 
alarm, but, on the contrary, a desire to come up with the Indians. There 
was peace between the English and all the Western tribes until the latter 
were incited to hostility by the French in the movements preceding Brad- 
dock's defeat, in 1755, and followed by the Seven Years' War between 
England and France, terminated by the treaty of Paris, 1763, and known 
to the Western settlers as the French and Indian War. 



54 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

Sight could reach. I then concluded to return to the 
rest of my Company. I kept on my track i mile then 
turn'd Southerly & went to Cumberland River at the 
mouth of a water Course, that I named Rocky Creek.' 

26th. The River is 150 yards wide and appears 
to be navigable from this place almost to the mouth of 
Clover Creek. Rocky Creek runs within 40 yards of the 
River Bank then turns off, and runs up the River, Sur- 
rounding about 25 acres of Land before it falls into the 
River. The Banks of the River and Creek are a sufficient 
Fence almost all the way. On the Lower Side of the 
mouth of the Creek is an Ash mark'd T. W., a Red Oak 
A. P., a white Hiccory C. C. besides several Trees blazed 
Several ways with 3 Chops over each blaze, we went 
up the North Side of the River 8 miles, and Camped on 
a Small Branch. A Bear Broke one of my Dogs forelegs. 

April 27th. We crossed Indian Creek' and Went down 
Meadow Creek ^ to the River. There Comes in another 
from the Southward as big as this we are on. Below 
the mouth of this Creek, and above the mouth are the 
remains of Several Indian Cabbins and amongst them a 

' The point at which Doctor Walker here reached Cumberland River is 
about twenty miles below that at which he crossed it on the 23d. The 
creek which he named Rocky Creek is now called Patterson's, and the 
topography at its mouth conforms to his description. 

^This creek is now called Maple Creek. 

3 It bears the same name now. 



your Hill of Doctor Thomas Walker. 5 5 

round Hill' made by Art about 20 feet high and 60 over 
the Top. we went up the River, and Camped on the 
Bank. 

28th. We kept up the River to our Company whom 
we found all well, but the lame Horse was as bad as 
we left him, and another had been bit in the Nose by 
a Snake. I rub'd the wounds with Bears oil, and gave 
him a drench of the same and another of the decoction 
of Rattle Snake root some time after. The People I 
left had built an House' 12 by 8, clear'd and broke up 
some ground, & planted Corn, and Peach Stones. They 
also had killed several Bears and cured the meat. This 
day Colby Chew and his Horse fell down the Bank. I 
Bled and gave him Volatile drops, & he soon re- 
covered. 

' A mound, corresponding to the one here described, but reduced in 
size, is still in existence near the bank of the river west of Meadow Creek, 
on the Evans farm. 

^This was evidently not what was called an "improver's" cabin, which 
consisted of a pen of logs, four or five feet in height, without a roof, but 
a cabin such as was usually built for occupation. It was intended, no 
doubt, as an evidence of his claim to the body of land he had come out 
to locate for the Loyal Land Company, and also for occupation in the 
future by himself or other agents of the company. It was the first 
house built in Kentucky by white man of which there is any record, and 
was occupied with additions until 1835. The site, which is identified by 
the debris of the chimney, is on the farm of George M. Faulkner, four 
miles below Barbourville. Within a few years past a tomahawk and other 
relics have been found here. 



56 yonnial of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

April 29th. The Sabbath. The bitten Horse is better. 
3 Quarters of A mile below the House is a Pond' in the 
low Ground of the River, a Quarter of a mile in Length 
and 200 yds. wide much frequented by Fowl. 

30th. I blazed a way from our House to the River. 
On the other side of the River is a large Elm ^ cut 
down and barked about 20 feet and another standing 
just by it with the Bark cut around at the root and 
about 15 feet above. About 200 yards below this is 
a white Hiccory Barked about 15 feet. The depth of 
water here, when the lowest that I have seen it, is 
about 7 or 8 feet, the Bottom of the River Sandy, ye 
Banks very high, & the Current very Slow. The bitten 
Horse being much mended, we set off and left the lame 
one. He is white, branded on the near Buttock with a 
swivil Stirrup Iron, and is old. We left the River and 
having Crossed Several Hills and Branches, Camped in a 
Valley North from the House. 

May the ist. Another Horse being bit, I applyed Bears 
Oil as before mention'd. We got to Powell's River ^ in 

' The pond described still exists. It was named later by Daniel Boone 
"Swan Pond," by which it is now known. It is put down on Munsell's 
and other early large maps of Kentucky. It has decreased in size some- 
what, and is about a mile below the house, on the land of a Mrs. Jackson. 

'Here is where the canoe was made on the 2oth-2ist. 

3 This was the first of the series of streams named successively after 
his companions, Powell, Chew, Tomlinson, Lawless, and Hughes, by which 



yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 57 

the afternoon and went down it along an Indian Road, 
much frequented, to the mouth of a Creek on the West 
side of the River, where we camped. The Indian Road 
goes up the Creek, and I think it is that Which goes 
through Cave Gap.' 

2d. We kept down the River. At the mouth of 
a Creek that comes in on the East side is a Lick, and 

1 beheve there was a hundred Buffaloes at it. About 

2 o'clock we had a Shower of rain, we Camped on the 
River, which is very crooked. 

May 3rd. We crossed a narrow Neck of Land, came 
on the River again and kept Down it to an Indian Camp, 

the editor foretold the names of the two last members of the party, not 
disclosed until the discovery of the missing leaves of the journal, which 
confirmed his surmise. It and the others were tributaries of Rockcastle 
River. His general course was a little west of north. In Mr. Rives' text 
is the following note: "This Powell's River and Crooked Creek are in 
Kentucky, and are represented on Pownall's Map as flowing into what 
seems to be Green River." It was what is now known as the main Laurel 
River. 

" The Indian road which he struck here was that which crossed the 
Cumberland River below Clover Creek, the trail by which immigration came 
in later, and the Old Wilderness State Road. It is the main road of that 
county now, along which the Louisville & Nashville Railroad runs. See 
"Wilderness Road," Filson Club Publications No. 2, by Captain Thomas 
Speed. Doctor Walker's reference to Cave Gap and the fact that this 
road led to it is further confirmation that he had been furnished informa- 
tion as to the region through which he was traveling. His diversion 
from the beaten Indian road when he went down the south side of the 
Cumberland, instead of crossing at Pineville, was doubtless for the purpose 
of inspecting the land in that direction. 



58 yoiirnal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

that had been built this Spring, and in it we took up our 
Quarters. It began to rain about Noon and continued 
until Night. 

4th. We crossed a narrow Neck of Land and came 
on the River again, which we kept down till it turn'd 
to the Westward, we then left it, and went up a Creek, 
which we Called Colby's Creek. The River is about 50 
yards over where we left it. 

5th. We got to Tomlinson's River, which is about 
the size of Powell's River, and I cut my name on a Beech, 
that Stands on the North Side of the River. Here is 
plenty of Coal in the South Bank opposite to our Camp. 

6th. The Sabbath. I saw Goslings, which shows that 
wild Geese stay here all the year. Ambrose Powell had 
the misfortune to sprain his well knee. 

7th. We went down Tomlinson's River the Land being 
very broken and our way embarrassed by trees, that had 
been blown down about 2 years ago. 

May 8th. We went up a Creek on the North Side of 
the River. 

9th. We got to Lawlesses River which is much like 
the others. The Mountains here are very Steep and 
on Some of them there is Laurel and Ivy. The tops of 
the Mountains are very Rocky and some part of the 
Rocks seem to be composed of Shells, Nuts and many 



yournal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 59 

other Substances petrified and cemented together with a 
kind of FHnt. ' We left the River and after travelHng 
some Miles we got among Trees that had been Blown 
down about 2 years, and were obliged to go down a Creek 
to the River again, the Small Branches and Mountains 
being impassable. 

loth. We Staid on the River, and dressed an Elk 
skin to make Indian Shoes — most of ours being quite 
worn out. 

1 1 th. We left the River, found the Mountains very 
bad, and got to a Rock^ by the side of a Creek Sufficient 
to shelter 200 men from Rain. Finding it so convenient, 
we concluded to stay and put our Elk skin in order for 
shoes and make them. 

'The topographical and geological description is accurate. The rock 
described is the conglomerate or millstone grit, and the coal mentioned 
on the 5th is the interconglomerate coal, extensively mined now in the 
Livingston region and at Pine Hill. 

^This was one of the numerous shelving rocks, now locally known as 
rock houses. The name of Rockcastle River was doubtless derived from 
them. This was the farthest western point reached by Doctor Walker. 
He did not cross the main Rockcastle River, and, therefore, was never on 
the waters of Salt or Green rivers, as claimed by some. A day or two's 
travel to the west or northwest would have brought him to the fertile 
lands of Lincoln or Madison County, his description of which would have 
left no doubt of his having passed the water-shed between the Rockcastle, 
the Salt, and the rivers to the westward. I have lately visited the locality, 
and near the junction of the Louisville & Nashville and Kentucky Central 
railroads, in Rockcastle County, found a cave or rock house as large as that 
described by Doctor Walker, and doubtless the one occupied by him. 



6o yonrnal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

May 1 2th. Under the Rock is a Soft Kind of Stone 
almost Hke Allum in taste ; below it A Layer of Coal 
about 12 Inches thick and white Clay under that. I 
called the Run Allum Creek. I have observed several 
mornings past, that the Trees begin to drop just before 
day & continue dripping till almost Sun rise, as if it 
rain'd slowly, we had some rain this day. 

13th. The Sabbath. 

14th. When our Elk's Skin was prepared we had 
lost every Awl that we brought out, and I made one 
with the Shank of an old Fishing hook, the other People 
made two of Horse Shoe Nailes, and with these we made 
our Shoes or Moccosons. We wrote several of our Names 
with Coal under the Rock, & I wrote our names, the time 
of our comeing and leaving this place on paper and stuck 
it to the Rock with Morter, and then set off. We Crossed 
Hughes's ' River and Lay on a large Branch of it. There 
is no dew this morning but a shower of Rain about 6 
o'clock. The River is about 50 yards wide. 

May 15th. Laurel and Ivy encrease upon us as we 
go up the Branch. About noon it began to rain & we 
took up our Quarters in a Valley between very Steep 
Hills. 

' Principal fork of Rockcastle River, which here runs nearly west. The 
large branch on which he lay was Middle Fork. 



yoiirnal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 6i 

1 6th. We crossed Several Ridges and Branches. About 
two in the afternoon, I was taken with a Violent Pain in 
my Hip. 

1 7th. Laurel and Ivy are very plenty and the Hills 
still very steep. The Woods have been burnt some years 
past, and are now very thick, the Timber being almost 
all kill'd. We Camped on a Branch of Naked Creek.' 
The pain in my Hip is something asswaged. 

1 8th. We went up Naked Creek to the head and 
had a plain Buffaloe Road most of the way. From thence 
we proceeded down Wolf Creek and on it we camped. 

19th. We kept down ye Creek to Hunting^ Creek, ^ 
which we crossed and left. It rained most of the after- 
noon. 

' Probably Laurel Fork of Middle Fork, in Jackson County. He had 
been traveling, since leaving the rock house, in a northeasterly direction, 
and reached the summit of the divide between the waters of the Rock- 
castle and South Fork of the Kentucky, the buffalo road noted being 
doubtless the warriors' path leading direct from Cumberland Gap, along 
which Boone came with John Findlay in 1769. This John Findlay must 
not be confounded with Captain John Finley, who was at the Upper Blue 
Lick in 1773, a Captain in the Continental Line, and of the same family 
whence came Samuel Finley B. Morse, of telegraph fame. 

^ Hunting Creek, Milley's River, and Frederick's River are set down on 
Pownall's Map as branches of the Catawba or Cuttawa, now called the 
Kentucky River. (Note in Mr. Rives' text.) 

3 This was Station Camp Creek, which empties into the Kentucky River 
just above Irvine, county-seat of Estill County. At the mouth of this 
creek Daniel Boone lived alone in 1770, while his brother. Squire Boone, 
returned to North Carohna for ammunition, and there they spent the fol- 



62 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

May 20th. The Sabbath. It began to Rain about 
Noon and continued till next day. 

2 1 St. It left ofif raining about 8. we crossed several 
Ridges and small Branches & Camped on a Branch of 
Hunting Creek, in the Evening it rained very hard. 

lowing winter. The Indian trace up Station Camp Creek was known as 
" Ouasiota Pass," and when they reached the summit they thought they 
were on top of the Cumberland Mountains, the name "Ouasiota" Moun- 
tains being given to that range, together with all its elevated region east- 
wardly to the main chain. "Ouasiota Pass" is laid down on Pownall's 
Map, 1776, with routes converging to it from Big Bone Lick, near the 
Ohio, the lower Shawnee town at the mouth of the Scioto, and from the 
mouth of the Big Sandy, called Totteroy. 

In speaking of the Sandusky River, Ohio, Lewis Evans, in the text 
which accompanies his map of 1755, published by Pownall, makes further 
allusion to this pass, showing the importance attached to it as an inter- 
continental route. "This river (the Sandusky) is an important pass, and 
the French have secured it as such. The northern Indians cross the lake 
here from island to island, land at Sanduski, and go by a direct path to 
the lower Shawnee town, and thence to the gap of Ouasiota on their way 
to the Cuttawas' country. This will no doubt be the way the French 
will take from Detroit and Moville (Mobile), unless the English be advised 
to secure it, now that it is in their power." A Topographical Description of 
North America, etc., with map, by T. Pownall, M. P., London, 1776, 
pages 41, 42. 

Captain Thomas Hutchins, Geographer General of North America, in 
his "Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
North Carolina, London, 1778," also refers to this pass. In a tour down 
the Ohio River, in 1766, he describes the various rivers passed, and after 
speaking of the Great Salt Creek (Licking River), says: " Kentucke is a 
larger stream than the last ; it is surrounded with high clay banks, fertile 
lands, and salt springs. Its navigation is interrupted with shoals, but 
passable with small boats to the gap where the warpath goes through 
the Ouasiota Mountains." 



yournal of Doctor Thomas IValker. 63 

2 2d. We went down the Branch to Hunting Creek 
& kept it to Milley's" River. 

23rd. We attempted to go down the River but could 
not. We then Crossed Hunting Creek and attempted 
to go up the River but could not. it being very deep 
we began a Bark Canoe. The River is about 90 or 
100 yards wide. I Blazed several Trees in the Fork 
and marked T. W. on a Sycomore Tree 40 feet around. 
It has a large Hole on the N: W: side about 20 feet 
from the Ground and is divided into 3 Branches just by 
the hole, and it stands about 80 yards above the mouth 
of Hunting Creek. 

May 24th. We finished the Conoe and crossed the 
River ° about noon, and I marked a Sycomore 30 feet 
round and several Beeches on the North side of the River 
opposite to the mouth of the Creek. Game is very 
scarce hereabouts. 

' This was the Kentucky River. No stream has been called by more 
names. The histories of Kentucky generally credited Doctor Walker 
with having given to it the name of Louisa, but there is no foundation 
whatever for this assumption, as this journal fully shows. It is put down 
on Pownall's and other of the early maps as Milley's River, and it was 
probably known to the traders and hunters as such at the time of Doctor 
Walker's expedition, from the Miami Indian name, which was " Mille- 
wakame." Of the rivers named by Doctor Walker, he never leaves us in 
doubt, always saying so in express terms when he names one. Other 
names by which the Kentucky River was known were Cuttawa, Cuttawba, 
Catawba, Chenoka, and Chenoa. 

^ For a long time Doctor Walker was accredited with having gone hence 
up the Kentucky River and upon the North Fork, naming the latter Fred- 



64 younial of Doctor Thomas IValker. 

25th. It began to rain before the day and continued 
till about noon. We travelled about 4 miles on a Ridge 
and Camped on a small Branch. 

26th. We kept down the Branch almost to the River, 
and up a Creek, and then along a Ridge till our Dogs 
roused a large Buck Elk, which we followed down to a 
Creek. He killed Ambrose Powell's Dog in the Chase, 
and we named the Run Tumbler's Creek, the Dog being 
of that Name. 

27th. The Sabbath. 

28th. Cloudy. We could not get our Horses till 
almost Night, when we went down the Branch. We lay 
on to the main Creek,' and turn'd up it. 

May 29th. We proceeded up the Creek 7 miles, and 
then took a North Branch^ & went up it 5 miles and 
then encamped on it. 

erick's River. But this is an error, as a close reading of the context will 
show. He crossed the river, and, taking a northeasterly course, on the 
28th came to Red River — known also as the Warrior Fork of Kentucky 
River, the warpath from the Big Sandy leading down it, a tributary of 
the Kentucky, flowing west and emptying into it twenty or thirty miles 
below where he crossed it — at a point between Clay City and Stanton, 
county-seat of Powell County. He was then fifteen or twenty miles east 
of Indian Old Fields, near which the Boone, Findlay, and Stewart party 
wintered in 1769, and from Lulbegrud Creek, named by them, they having 
with them a copy of ' ' Gulliver's Travels. " 

' This was Red River, which in ordinary seasons is a small stream, 
but becomes quite formidable after heavy rains on its headwaters. 

° This was the North Fork of Red River, up which he traveled nearly 
due east. 



yournal of Doctor Thomas PValker. 65 

30th. We went to the head of the Branch we lay 
on 1 2 miles. A shower of Rain fell this day. The Woods 
are burnt fresh about here and are the only fresh burnt 
Woods we have seen these Six Weeks. 

31st. We crossed 2 Mountains and camped just by a 
Wolf's Den. They were very impudent and after they 
had been twice shot at, they kept howling about the 
Camp, It rained till Noon this day. 

June ye ist. We found the Wolf's Den and caught 
4 of the young ones. It rained this morning, we went 
up a Creek crossed a mountain and went through a Gap,' 
and then, camped on the head of A Branch. 

2d. We went down the Branch to a River 70 yards 
wide, which I called Fredericks River. ^ we kept up it a 
half mile to a Ford, where we crossed and proceeded up 
on the North Side 3 miles. It rained most of the after- 
noon. Elks' are very Plenty on this River. 

June 3rd. Whit-Sunday. It rained most of the 
day. 

' Here he passed the divide between the waters of the Kentucky and 
Licking rivers, passing east down Johnson's Creek. 

^ This was the Licking River, which he named Frederick's River from 
Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George II, and father of George III. 
The point at which he reached it was in Magoffin County, near Salyers- 
ville, the county-seat. 

3 A fork of the Licking, putting in from the northeast, higher up the 
river, is at this day called Elk Fork. 



66 yotirnal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

4th. I blazed several trees four ways on the out- 
side of the low Grounds by a BufTaloe Road, and 
marked my Name on Several Beech Trees. Also I 
marked some by the River side just below a 'mossing' 
place with an Island in it. We left the River about 10 
o'clock & got to Falling Creek, and went up it till 5 in 
the Afternoon, when a very black Cloud appearing, we 
turn'd out our Horses, got tent Poles up, and were just 
stretching a Tent, when it began to rain and hail, and 
was succeeded by a violent Wind which Blew down our 
Tent & a great many Trees about it, several large ones 
within 30 yds. of the Tent, we all left the place in con- 
fusion and ran different ways for shelter. After the Storm 
was over, we met at the Tent, and found all safe. 

5th. There was a violent Shower of Rain before 
day. This morning we went up the Creek about 3 miles, 
and then were obliged to leave it, the Timber being so 
blown down that we could not get through. After we 
left the Creek, we kept on a Ridge ^ 4 miles, then turned 
down to the head of a Branch, and it began to rain and 
continued raining very hard till Night. 

' Crossing(?). (Note in Mr. Rives' text.) 

^ A mossing-place is one selected for wintering by a band of elk ( Cervus 
Americanus) or other species of that genus. It is generally in a wooded 
valley, where they feed upon the moss, lichens, and buds of the shrubs 
and young trees. 

3 This was the watershed between the Licking and Big Sandy rivers. 



yournal of Doctor Thomas JValker. 67 

June 6th. We went down the Branch till it became 
a large Creek." It runs very Swift, falling more than any 
of the Branches we have been on of late. I called it 
Rapid Creek. After we had gone 8 miles we could not 
ford, and we Camped in the low Ground. There is great 
sign of Indians on this Creek. 

7th. The Creek being fordable, we Crossed it & 
kept down 12 miles to a River about 100 yards over, 
which We called Louisa' River. ^ The Creek is about 30 
yards wide, & part of ye River breaks into ye Creek — 
making an Island on which we Camped. 

8th. The River is so deep we Cannot ford it and 
as it is falling we conclude to stay & hunt. In the 
afternoon Mr. Powell and my Self was a hunting about 
a mile & a half from the Camp, and heard a gun just 
below us on the other side of the River, and as none of 

' This was evidently Paint Creek, near the mouth of which is Paints- 
ville, the county-seat of Johnson County. The valley of the Upper Licking 
is much more elevated than that of the Big Sandy, and the descent to 
the latter is quite abrupt. 

^The West or Louisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. (Note in Mr. 
Rives' text.) 

3 This river was named Louisa, after the sister of the Duke of Cumber- 
land, for which soldier Doctor Walker seems to have had a great partiality. 
It has always been said that it was named for the wife of the Duke, but 
he was never married. The stream is known as the Louisa or Levisa 
Fork of the Big Sandy, and is joined by the Tug Fork, the northeast 
boundary between Virginia and Kentucky, at Louisa, county-seat of Law- 
rence County, forty miles north of Paintsville. The Indian name of the 
Big Sandy was Chattaroi or Chattarawha. It was also called Totteroi. 



68 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

our People could cross, I was in hopes of getting some 
direction from the Person, but could not find him. 

June 9th. We crossed the River & went down it to 
the mouth of a Creek & up the Creek to the head and 
over a Ridge into a steep Valley and Camped. 

loth. Trinity Sunday. Being in very bad ground 
for our Horses, we concluded to move, we were very 
much hindered by the Trees, that were blown down on 
Monday last, we Camped on a Small Branch. 

nth. It rained violently the Latter part of the 
night & till 9 o'clock. The Branch is impassable at 
present. We lost a Tomohawk ' and a Cann by the 
Flood. 

12th. The Water being low we went down the 
Branch to a large Creek, & up the Creek. Many of the 

'This tomahawk was found nearly one hundred years afterward under 
a shelving rock on the upper waters of Salt River, in Mercer County, 
Kentucky, which seemed to confirm the theory that Doctor Walker had pene- 
trated that country. As, however, it is evident from a more correct inter- 
pretation of his journal that he never went west of Rockcastle River, the 
finding of the tomahawk must be explained by its having been washed 
down the branch by the heavy flood referred to in a locality frequented 
by Indians, and being found by some passing traveler, by whom it was 
taken to Mercer County. It is now in possession of Colonel Thomas 
Walker Bullitt, of Louisville, a great-grandson of Doctor Walker. The 
name, "T. Walker," is plainly stamped on it. It is a piece of fine work- 
manship in steel, in a state of perfect preservation, with its edges sharp 
and with no sign of corrosion. See also account of Robert B. McAfee 
in postscript of letter of L. C. Draper, Appendix A, brought to light since 
this note was written. 



yotirnal of Doctor Thomas IValkey. 69 

trees in the Branches are Wash'd up by the Roots and 
others barked by the old trees, that went down ye Stream. 
The Roots in the Bottom of the Runs are Barked by the 
Stones. 

June 13th. We are much hindered by the Gust & a 
shower of Rain about Noon. Game is very scarce here, 
and the mountains very bad, the tops of the Ridges 
being so covered with Ivy and the sides so steep and 
stony, that we were obHged to cut our way through with 
our Tomohawks. 

14th. The Woods are still bad and Game scarce. 
It rained today about Noon & we Camped on the top of 
A Ridge.' 

1 5th -1 6th. We got on a large Creek where Turkey 
are plenty and some Elks. we went a hunting & 
killed 3 Turkeys. Hunted & killed 3 Bears & some 
Turkeys. 

17th. The Sabbath. We killed a large Buck Elk. 

1 8th. having prepared a good stock of Meat, we left 
the Creek crossing several Branches and Ridges, the 
Woods still continuing bad the weather hot & our Horses 
so far spent, that we are all obliged to walk. 

' This was the dividing ridge between the two forks of the Big Sandy. 
He was now traveling toward the southeast, having this day passed the 
divide between the waters of the Louisa and Tug forks of the Big Sandy. 



70 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

June 19th. We got to Laurel Creek' early this morn- 
ing, and met so impudent a Bull Buffaloe that we were 
obliged to shoot him, or he would have been amongst us. 
we then went up the Creek six miles, thence up a North 

' Headwaters of Tug Fork. This stream is the one down which Gen- 
eral Andrew Lewis passed on his expedition to the Ohio, in March, 1756, 
with the intention of invading the Indian country north of that stream as 
a means of retaliation for their incursions up the Monongahela and Kanawha 
Valleys, by which the settlers had been driven back to the Blue Ridge 
and their extermination threatened. He was recalled, however, by Governor 
Dinwiddie when within two days' march of the mouth of the Big Sandy, and 
returned reluctantly, but not until he had advanced to the Ohio and 
seriously contemplated disobeying the order. His command was composed 
of Captain Peter Hogg with forty men of his company, a draft of sixty 
men from the companies of Captains William Preston and James Smith under 
command of the latter, Captains Samuel Overton and Obadiah Woodson 
with forty men each, a small company under Captain McNutt, and one 
hundred and fifty Cherokee warriors under Captain Richard Pearis. See 
Virginia Calendar, Dinwiddie Papers, Volume H, pages 200, 293. Withers, 
in his Border Warfare, erroneously gives the date of the expedition a year 
later, and is at fault as to the number of men and the names of subordi- 
nate commanders, giving them as Captains William Preston, Paul Alexander, 
Hogg, Smith, Breckinridge, Woodson, Overton, Montgomery, and Dunlap. 
Had General Lewis carried out his purpose, he would have anticipated by 
twenty-two years the movement of similar strategy by George Rogers Clark, 
and might have saved Virginia from Indian depredation. The stream was 
then known as Sandy Creek, and was named by Lewis Tug Fork, from 
the fact that on his retreat up it his troops, being pressed by hunger, cut 
up into strips or tugs some buffalo hides which he had hung on a tree 
on his first passage, and sustained life by chewing them. (Withers' "Border 
Warfare.") General Andrew Lewis was made second in command to Wash, 
ington in the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Washington said he 
ought to have been placed first. He distinguished himself in the Revolu- 
tion, and died in 1781. His expedition was known as the " Voyage down 
Sandy Creek." His statue is one of those which surround the Washington 
Monument at Richmond, Virginia. 



yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 71 

Branch of it to the Head, and attempted to cross a 
mountain, but it proved so high and difficult, that we 
were obHged to Camp on the side of it. This Ridge is 
nigh the eastern edge of the Coal Land.' 

20th. We got to the top of the Mountain and 
Could discover a flat^ to the South & South East, we 
went down from the Ridge to a Branch and down the 
Branch to Laurel Creek not far from where we left it 
yesterday & Camped. my riding Horse was bit by a 
Snake this day, and having no Bear's Oil I rub'd the 
place with a piece of fat meat, which had the desired 
effect. 

2 1 St. We found the Level Nigh the Creek so full 
of Laurel that we were obliged to go up a Small 
Branch, and from the head of that to the Creek again, 
and found it good travelling a Small distance from the 
Creek, we Camped on the Creek. Deer are very scarce 
on the Coal Land, I having seen but 4, since the 30th 
of April. 

June 22nd. We kept up to the head of the Creek, 
the Land being Leveller than we have lately seen, and 

' This was the outcrop of the Pocahontas coal field in West Virginia, 
now extensively mined, the Norfolk & Western Railroad penetrating that 
region and having been extended down the Tug Fork to the Ohio at Kenova, 
just above the mouth of the Big Sandy. 

^ He was then on the Flat-top Mountain, which extends in the direction 
indicated in Raleigh and adjacent counties of West Virginia. 



72 yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

here are some large Savanna's. Many of the Branches 
are full of Laurel and Ivy. Deer and Bears are 
plenty. 

23rd. Land continues level with Laurel and Ivy & 
we got to a large Creek with very high & steep Banks 
full of Rocks, which I call'd Clifty Creek, the Rocks are 
100 feet perpendicular in some Places. 

24th. The Sabbath. 

25th. We Crossed Clifty Creek. Here is a little Coal 
and the Land still flat. 

26th. We crossed a Creek that we called Dismal 
Creek, the Banks being the worst and the Laurel the 
thickest I have seen. The Land is Mountainous on the 
East Side of the Dismal Creek, and the Laurels end in 
a few miles. We camped on a Small Branch. 

June 27th. The Land is very high & we crossed 
several Ridges and camped on a small Branch, it rained 
about Noon and continued till the next day. 

28th. It continued raining till Noon, and we set off 
as soon as it ceased and went down the Branch we 
lay on to the New River," just below the mouth of Green 

' He had traveled on the Flat-top Mountain for five or six days, head- 
ing the streams which flow into Bluestone River, a tributary of New River, 
on the south and the Kanawha northward. The low ground in which 
he camped at the junction of Greenbrier and New rivers is the present 
site of Hinton, the county-seat of Summers County, on the line of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. 



yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 73 

Bryer. Powell, Tomlinson and my self striped, and went 
into the New River tp try if we could wade over at any 
place. After some time having found a place we return'd 
to the others and took such things as would take damage 
by Water on our Shoulders, and waded over Leading our 
Horses. The bottom is very uneven, the Rocks very slip- 
pery and the Current very Strong most of the way. We 
Camped in the Low Ground opposite to the mouth of 
Green Bryer. 

29th. We kept up Green Bryer.' It being a wet day 
we went only 2 miles, and Camped on the North Side. 

June 30th. We went 7 miles up the River, which is 
very crooked. 

July ye ist. The Sabbath. Our Salt being almost 
spent. We travelled 10 miles sometimes on the River, and 
at other times some distance from it. 

2nd. We kept up the River the chief part of this 
day and we travelled about 10 miles. 

3rd. we went up the River 10 miles to day. 

' The route of Doctor Walker from this point homeward needs but 
little comment. He followed substantially the present line of the Chesa- 
peake & Ohio Railroad, crossing the Alleghany divide on the 8th of July, 
passing the Hot Springs on the gth, and reaching Augusta Court House 
(Staunton, Virginia) on the iith. Crossing the Shenandoah Valley and 
passing over the Blue Ridge at Rock Fish Gap, he completed the circle of 
his arduous expedition of four months and seven days by arriving at 
Castle Hill on the i6th of July. 

13 



74 yoiirnal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 

4th. We went up the River 10 miles through very 
bad Woods. 

5th. The way growing worse, we travelled 9 mile only. 

6th. We left the River. The low grounds on it are 
of very little Value, but on the Branches are very good, 
and there is a great deal of it, and the high land is very 
good in many places. We got on a large Creek called 
Anthony's Creek, which affords a great deal of Very good 
Land, and it is chiefly bought, we kept up the creek 4 
miles and Camped. This Creek took it Name from an 
Indian, called John Anthony, that frequently hunts in 
these Woods. There are some inhabitants on the Branches 
of Green Bryer, but we missed their Plantations. 

July 7th. We kept up the Creek, and about Noon 5 
men overtook us and inform'd us we were only 8 miles 
from the inhabitants on a Branch of James River called 
Jackson's River. We exchanged Some Tallow for Meal 
& parted. We Camped on a Creek nigh the top of the 
Alleghany Ridge, which we named Ragged Creek. 

8th. Having Shaved, Shifted, & made new Shoes we 
left our useless Raggs at ye Camp & got to Walker 
Johnston's about Noon. We moved over to Robert Arm- 
strong's in the Afternoon & staid there all Night. The 
People here are very hospitable and would be better able 
to support Travellers was it not for the great number of 



yournal of Doctor Thomas Walker. 75 

Indian Warriers, that frequently take what they want 
from them, much to Their prejudice. 

July 9th. We went to the hot Springs and found 
Six Invalides there. The Spring Water is very Clear 
& warmer than new Milk, and there is a spring of cold 
Water within 20 feet of the Warm one. I left one of 
my Company this day. 

10th. Having a Path We rode 20 miles & lodged at 
Captain Jemyson's' below the Panther Gap. Two of my 
Company went to a Smith to get their Horses Shod. 

nth. Our Way mending, We travelled 30 miles to 
Augusta Court House,' where I found Mr. Andrew John- 
ston, the first of my acquaintance I had seen, since the 
26 day of March. 

1 2th. Mr. Johnston lent me a fresh Horse and sent 
my Horses to Mr. David Stewards who was so kind as 
to give them Pastureage. About 8 o'Clock I set off 
leaving all my Company. It began to rain about 2 in 
the Afternoon & I lodged at Captain David Lewis's about 
34 miles from Augusta Court House. 

13th. I got home about Noon. 

We killed in the Journey 13 Buffaloes, 8 Elks, 53 Bears, 
20 Deer, 4 Wild Geese, about 150 Turkeys, besides small 
Game. We might have killed three times as much meat, 
if we had wanted it. 

'Jameson, of the Doctor Patrick Henry Jameson family. ^Staunton. 



Appendix A. 

I am indebted to Doctor William C. Rives, of New 
York, for the following letter from the late Lyman C. 
Draper, Secretary of the State Historical Society, Madi- 
son, Wisconsin, to Honorable W. C. Rives, whose wife 
was a granddaughter of Doctor Thomas Walker, and who 
was the grandfather of Doctor Rives. Accompanying it 
are several documents and letters of interest. While 
they contain much interesting matter, they serve to show, 
by the light of Doctor Walker's Journal, how full of error 
were the traditions and published statements respecting 
his exploration : 

Letter from L. C. Draper to Honorable W. C. Rives. 

Baltimore, Md., March 24, 1847. 
My Dear Sir : It is with no small reluctance I attempt again 
to address you with reference to the life of Doctor Thomas 
Walker, and would not now do so but for my extreme solicitude 
to speak of him deservedly and correctly. Since I last wrote 
you I have somewhat changed the plan of my work, and now 
design it as the Life and Times of General George Rogers Clark, 
for which purpose his relative? have kindly and liberally placed 
in my hands all of the General's old papers, and the Kentucky 
Historical Society, at whose request and under whose auspices I 



78 Appendix A. 

write the work, has also furnished me every aid in its power. In 
a preliminary chapter to the work I wish to give a detailed 
account of the early explorations of Kentucky by the whites. 
Among the most prominent of these was that of Doctor Walker. 
Kentucky's primitive historian, Filson, makes no mention of 
Doctor Walker or his visit ; Humphrey Marshall briefly alludes 
to that exploration, and places the date of its occurrence at 
"about the year 1758." Mann Butler, on authority of the late 
Honorable John Brown, who had the date from Doctor Walker 
himself, gives the event as having occurred "as early as 1747." 
Bradford's Notes on Kentucky gives the year 1750, on authority 
of the late Governor Shelby; while yet another writer says 1752, 
and this, too, coming also from Doctor Walker himself. 

You need not wonder, then, that I am so very desirous of 
acquiring information on this point from a reliable source. It 
seems to me, without the lights that I suppose you possess, that 
Doctor Walker's exploration of Kentucky could hardly have taken 
place much if any earlier than 1764 or 1765 — subsequent to 
Bouquet's treaty of peace with the Western Indians. 

My late venerable friend, Daniel Bryan, of Kentucky, a nephew 
of Daniel Boone, gave me a somewhat detailed statement of 
Doctor Walker's trip, as he received it from one of the party. 
I do not like to trust to such traditionary information while 
better is possibly within reach. I do not know as you can con- 
sistently furnish me with a copy of Doctor Walker's Journal of 
that trip, which I presume you or Mrs. Rives possesses. I should 
be rejoiced to have a copy of it, or at least a synopsis of it, 
together with a notice of Doctor Walker's life and public serv- 
ices. He was, I believe, at Braddock's defeat ; and served, as I 
found from a declaration of his, during the whole of the old 
French war. The details I should be gratified to have and to 



Appendix A. 79 

use. If I can serve you, in turn, in any way it will afford me 
real pleasure to receive your commands. With great regard and 
esteem, I am, dear sir, your friend and obedient servant, 

(Signed) Lyman C. Draper. 
Honorable W. C. Rives, Bentivoglio, Virginia. 

P. S. — I copy for your amusement a paragraph from a news- 
paper article written by General Robert B. McAfee, of Kentucky, 
on the occasion of the interment of Colonel Daniel Boone last 
year [September 13, 1845. — Ed.] at Frankfort, viz: 

"About a month since a youth by the name of Stopher found 
a very fine tomahawk, leather shot-pouch, the remains of a pow- 
der-horn, and an Indian pipe sticking under a rocky bank of Salt 
River, at the mouth of a small drain on the west side about two 
or three hundred yards below the mouth of the Harrodsburg 
Branch. On the side of the tomahawk ' is the name of ' Thomas 
Walker' in fine, plain letters. This ancient relic has been there 
some sixty or seventy years, and is yet sound and good, as it 
was sheltered by the rocks from the rain. I do not recollect at 
present the first name of Mr. Walker, who ran the line between 
Virginia and North Carolina, or what became of him. The dis- 
covery of the tomahawk may throw some light upon the fate of 
the owner. It was very probably hid there by the Indians when 
hovering around Harrodsburg in 1777. I have this article in my 
museum, and if Thomas Walker was ever taken or killed by the 
Indians, his relations will know." 

I may add, in this connection, that I have in my possession 
manuscript journal kept by General Daniel Smith in 1779-80, 
when running the Virginia -North Carolina line as the joint com- 
missioner with Doctor Walker. L. C. D. 

'See Doctor Walker's Journal, entry of June nth, giving account of 
loss of this tomahawk, with ray note J. S. J. 



8o Appendix A. 



Daniel Bryan's Statement of Doctor Walker's Trip. 

"I will give you some account of Doctor Thomas Walker, 
which I had from the mouth of Mr. William Tomerlin," who was one 
of Walker's company. You can do what you please with it. Tom- 
erlin stated that Doctor Walker was from Old England, and settled 
in Virginia ; that he contemplated to look out a good country in 
the West, then to return to England and try the King for a 
grant of a quantity of land to help him to a fortune, as he was 
in low circumstances. Tomerlin, then a young man, agreed to 
go with him, also Ambrose Powell — if any others, I have forgotten. 
They started from low down in Virginia, traveled westwardly 
across Alleghany Mountains to Chissel's Lead Mine, on New 
River ; thence into the Holston Valley, thence down the valley to 
Moccasin Gap, in Clinch Mountain, thence over Walden's Ridge 
and Powell's Mountain into Powell's Valley. Powell's Mountain, 
Valley, and River took their names from this same Ambrose 
Powell. They then continued down the valley, leaving Cum- 
berland Mountain a small distance on their right hand, until they 
came to Cumberland Gap. This mountain and river Doctor 
Walker called Cumberland, in memory of Lord Cumberland, of 
England. At the foot of this mountain they fell into an Indian 
path leading from the Cherokee towns on Tennessee River to 
the Shawnee Indian towns on the Ohio, which path they fol- 
lowed down Yellow Creek to the old ford of Cumberland River. 
On a beech tree standing on the bank of Yellow Creek I saw the 
initials of their names and date cut in the bark, as I passed 
the tree in the year 1777, but can not recollect the date — Mar- 
shall, in his History of Kentucky, says 1758. Thence they 

' The William Tomerlin spoken of in the foregoing by Mr. Bryan 
was William Tomlinson, who was one of Doctor Walker's companions, 
and who came to Kentucky in 1779 with Cave Johnson and helped him 
to build Bryant's Station. He was one of the defenders of the station 
when besieged August 16, 1782, and left descendants in Fayette County, 
Kentucky. See R. T. Durrett's Address on Bryant's Station, page 21. 



Appendix A. 8i 

went on the path down the river to the Flat Lick, eight miles ; 
here they left the river, continued on the path, turning more 
north, crossing some of the head branches of the Kentucky 
River over a poor and hilly country, until they concluded there 
was no good country in the West. They then took an easterly 
course over the worst mountains and laurel thickets in the 
world, having to cut the laurel with their tomahawks in order to 
pass through. They crossed the Laurel or Cumberland Mountain 
and fell into the Greenbrier country, almost starved to death ; 
they were obliged to eat their dog to keep from famishing, and 
reached home with life only to pay for all their trouble and 
suffering. Here I leave Walker and company to you, and com- 
mence the account of the first discovery of Kentucky, etc." 

Written by the late Daniel Bryan, of Kentucky, in February, 
1843, then about eighty-six years of age, a nephew of Colonel 
Daniel Boone, and a man of great integrity and worth. 

L. C. D.(raper.) 

In the same letter in which Mr. Draper gives the nar- 
rative of Daniel Bryan he gives the following additional 
accounts, valuable chiefly as showing how incorrect was 
all the information respecting Doctor Walker's exploration 
prior to the discovery of his journal and its correct inter- 
pretation, now first given : 

Colonel William Martin's Statement. 

About the close of the old French war, or perhaps a little 
after, a treaty was held with the Cherokees at Fort Chissell (Chis- 
well), on New River, then a frontier. Colonel Byrd was Com- 
missioner ; The Standing Turkey, principal chief. In this treaty 

14 



82 Appendix A. 

it was provided for some of the chiefs to visit England. Doctor 
Walker, a gentleman of some distinction, living in Albemarle, and 
neighbor to my father, was appointed to go with them. This he 
did.' On their return he accompanied them home. On their 
way, the Indians being guides, they passed through this same 
Powell's Valley. They arrived at the place now called Cumber- 
land Gap, where they discovered a fine spring. They still had a 
little rum remaining, and they drank the health of the Duke of 
Cumberland, of England, with whom Doctor Walker had been 
acquainted while there. This gave rise to the name of Cumber- 
land Mountain and Cumberland River. 

(Colonel William Martin, now deceased, of Smith County, 
Tennessee, June, 1842.) 

(Memorandum by L. C. D. : In the manuscript records of 
Botetourt County, Virginia, it is recorded that Doctor Thomas 
Walker served seven years as commissary general to the British 
and Colonial troops.) 

Extract from Judge J. Yeates' letter, dated Pittsburgh, 
August 21, 1776, giving an account of a visit to Brad- 
dock's field : 

' ' My feelings were heightened by the warm and glowing nar- 
rative of that day's events by Doctor Walker, who was an eye 
witness. He pointed out the ford where the army crossed the 
Monongahela River (below Turtle Creek eight hundred yards)." 
Hazard's Pennsylvania Register, Volume VI, page 104. 

' There are several inaccuracies in tliis statement. Doctor Walker 
never visited England at this or any other time. The French and Indian 
wars closed by Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763. This would have 
made Doctor Walker's journey into Kentucky and the naming of Cumber- 
land Gap some years subsequent to that time, instead of 1750, when it 
actually took place. 



Appendix A. 83 



Visits to Kentucky. 

Hall says: "A small party explored Powell's Valley east of 
Laurel Ridge, which he called Cumberland Mountain. Receiving 
intelligence from some source not now known that the Ohio 
might be reached at no great distance by traveling in a north- 
eastward direction, he proceeded on that course until he came to 
Big Sandy River, having entirely missed the Ohio and the fertile 
region of Kentucky. He returned home after a journey of pro- 
digious labor, chiefly among the mountains. In 1750 he crossed 
the Cumberland Mountain in company with Colby Chew, Ambrose 
Powell, and others, but did not reach the Kentucky River. He 
made several subsequent excursions into this region, and it is 
probable that to this circumstance may be attributed the mistakes 
which have been made with reference to the date of his first 
visit. We adopt that which Mr. Butler, in his recent History of 
Kentucky, has upon good evidence proved to be the correct one. 
It appears by a manuscript affidavit, which we have examined, 
that in the month of April, 1750, he visited the waters of the 
Cumberland and gave its present name to that river." Hall's 
Sketches of the West, Volume I, pages 239, 240. 

"The eastern parts of this district (Tennessee) were explored 
by Colonels Wood, Patton, Buchanan, Captain Charles Campbell, 
and Doctor T. Walker, each of whom was concerned in large 
grants of land from the Government, as early as between the 
years 1740 and 1750." Morse's Geography, Fifth Edition, Vol- 
ume I, page 6q6. 

"About 1745 Captain Charles Campbell discovered the Salines, 
on North Fork of Holston." Morse, I, 688. (Guthrie, Winter- 
botham, and Monette state in substance the same.) 



84 Appendix A. 

Stepp's Miscellany, made up from Bradford's Notes on Ken- 
tucky, says: "In the year 1750 Doctor Thomas Walker, Colby 
Chew, Ambrose Powell, and several others from the counties of 
Orange and Culpeper, in Virginia, set out on a western excursion ; 
they traveled down Holston River, crossed the mountain into 
Powell's Valley, thence across Cumberland Mountain at the Gap, 
where the road crosses, proceeded on across what w;i ; formerly 
known as the Wilderness until they arrived at Hazel Patch. Here 
the company divided ; Doctor Walker with a part continued north 
until they came to Kentucky River, which they named Louisa or 
Levisa River. After traveling down the excessive broken or hilly 
region some distance they became dissatisfied and returned, and 
continued up one of the branches to its head and crossed over 
the mountains to New River, at a place called Walker's Meadows." 

Note by Mr. Draper. — Marshall says it was 1758. Mr. H. Taylor 
thinks Doctor Walker told him it was in 1752, but Colonel Shelby states 
implicitly that in company with Doctor Walker on Yellow Creek, a mile or 
two from Cumberland Mountain, the Doctor observed, "Upon that tree," 
pointing to a beech, "Ambrose marked his name and the date of the 
year." I examined the tree and found "A. Powell, 1750." 



Sketch of Christopher Gist. 



/Christopher gist, who was one of the earnest 
^^ and most intelligent explorers of the country west 
of the Alleghanies, was the son of Richard and Zipporah 
(Murray) Gist, and was a native of Maryland. His father 
was surveyor of the western shore of Maryland, and one 
of the Commissioners for laying off the City of Baltimore. 
His grandfather, Christopher Gist, was from England, and 
died in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1691. Little is 
known of his early life, but the evidences he has left in 
his journals, his maps, plats of surveys, and correspondence 
indicate that he enjoyed the advantages of an education 
superior to that of many of his calling in those early days. 
His signature and manuscript are characterized by the 
neatness and uniformity of a copy plate, while his plats 
and surveys are models in their mathematical exactness 
and precision in drawing. To this evidence of scholarly 
order and professional skill he added the hardy qualities 
of the pioneer and backwoodsman, capable of enduring 
the exposure of long journeys in the most rigorous weather. 
In him were combined the varied talents which made him 
at once an accomplished surveyor, an energetic farmer 



86 Sketch of Christopher Gist. 

who felled the forest and tilled the soil, a skillful diplo- 
matist who understood the Indian character and was 
influential in making treaties, a brave soldier, and an 
upright man, trusted by the highest civil and military 
authorities with implicit faith. At the time he first 
appears as a conspicuous figure in the important epoch 
of history which is covered by his services he was of 
middle age, and with his family lived upon a farm near 
the home of Daniel Boone, on the Yadkin River, in the 
northern part of North Carolina, then on the extreme 
frontier. He must have already had a large experience 
in the active pursuit of his profession as a surveyor, and 
have retired to the more quiet life of a farmer. His 
reputation as a surveyor and his character as a man of 
energy and tact must have been well established and 
recognized in quarters competent to judge of such mat- 
ters, for when the Ohio Land Company was organized in 
1748 by leading capitalists and pubhc men of England 
and Virginia they sought him in the retirement of his 
frontier home on the Yadkin, and made him their chief 
agent to explore the territory in which their grant was 
situated, and to locate their lands. 

Prior to this time the enterprises of the English had 
been confined to the settlement and development of the 
lands east of the Alleghany, a narrow strip of territory 



Sketch of Chn stop her Gist. 87 

chiefly settled on tide water, with the vast country west- 
ward of the mountains, to which England laid claim to 
the Pacific, unexplored and neglected. On the other hand, 
France, by penetrating the continent along the water line 
of the Lakes and the Mississippi, had belted the British 
possessions, established a line of military posts from the 
Lakes by the way of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers 
to the Gulf, established missions and planted thrifty colo- 
nies at Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and other points in the 
Northwest, and at New Orleans, Natchez, and various 
other places east and west of the Mississippi. The 
English were lethargic, apparently insensible of the great 
empire which lay dormant beyond the mountains, while 
France was aggressive and intent on obtaining possession 
of all the land between the Mississippi and the Alle- 
ghanies, while they held by virtue of the discoveries of 
Marquette and La Salle all the territory west of the 
Mississippi, exclusive of the Spanish possessions. The 
aggressions of the French finally aroused the English to 
the threatened danger, and in 1748 schemes were set on 
foot looking to the occupation and settlement of the 
Western territory. In that year also the war which had 
been waged in Europe between France and England was 
terminated by the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, by the terms 
of which, while the subjects which caused the war were 



88 Sketch of Christopher Gist. 

adjusted, there was no definite agreement as to the 
boundaries of the respective powers in America. 

The time seemed propitious for appropriating these 
lands, and the Ohio Company was the first of several 
corporations organized for that purpose. In 1748 John 
Hanbury, a merchant of London, Thomas Lee, President 
of the Council of Virginia, and a number of others, 
chiefly prominent Virginians, formed the Ohio Company 
and petitioned the King for a grant of land on the waters 
of the Ohio River. One of the objects stated in the 
petition was ' ' to anticipate the French by taking posses- 
sion of that country southward of the Lakes to which the 
French had no right nor had then taken possession, ex- 
cept a small block house fort among the Six Nations." 
In accordance with the petition, a grant was made to the 
Company March 18, 1749, to two hundred thousand acres 
of land on the south side of the Ohio, between the 
Kanawha and Monongahela rivers, and later to three 
hundred thousand additional acres to be located upon the 
waters of the Ohio lower down, on either side, as the 
Company should select. The conditions of these grants 
were that the Company, which was relieved from the 
payment of quit rents for the space of ten years, should 
colonize the lands with three hundred families and erect 
a fort at or near the present site of Pittsburgh, and 



Sketch of Christopher Gist. 89 

another at the mouth of the Kanawha. It is not, how- 
ever, within the purview of this sketch to enter into the 
history of this Company further than as it relates to 
Christopher Gist's connection therewith. It ultimately 
shared the fate of many similar bodies in pecuniary loss 
to the shareholders, but exerted during its existence a 
most important influence in the settlement of the country 
and in the final rescue of all the territory east of the 
Mississippi from the grasp of the French. Many of the 
most prominent men of that day in Virginia constituted 
the original corporators, namely : Robert Dinwiddie, then 
Governor of the Colony ; Lawrence and Augustine Wash- 
ington, the half-brothers of George Washington, Lawrence 
having at one time the chief management ; Arthur Dobbs, 
Samuel Smith, James Wardrop, Capel Hanbury, John 
Taylor, Presley Thornton, Nathaniel Chapman, Jacob 
Giles, Thomas Cresap, John Mercer, James Scott, Richard 
Lee, Robert Carter, and George Mason, author of the 
"Bill of Rights," who was its treasurer. The area of the 
grant was from time to time extended, and the company 
was finally, in 1773, merged into the Walpole grant under 
the name of the Grand Ohio Company, which included in 
its limits all that part of Kentucky east of the Kentucky 
River. The leading promotors of this grant and company 
were Thomas Walpole (brother of Horace), Lord Walpole, 



90 Sketch of Christopher Gist. 

an eminent banker of London; Thomas Pownall, M. P., 
Governor of New England ; Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel 
Wharton. The Revolutionary War terminated the exist- 
ence of the company and opened up the territory to 
settlement under the American system without the inter- 
mediary agency of land companies. 

As a preliminary to the occupation of its lands the 
Ohio Company in 1749-50 built a storehouse at Will's 
Creek, the present site of Cumberland, Maryland, then 
on the extreme western frontier, and engaged Colonel 
Thomas Cresap, one of the incorporators resident there, 
to open a road to the Monongahela, which became the 
route of Braddock's fatal march in 1755. In 1750 Chris- 
topher Gist was employed for one hundred and fifty 
pounds steriing certain "and such further handsome 
allowance as his service should deserve " to explore and 
report upon the lands upon the Ohio and its several 
branches as low as the Falls of the Ohio, according to 
instructions which precede the journal hereafter printed. 
The thorough manner in which he discharged this duty, 
as well as the still more responsible trust confided to him 
by the Governor of Virginia, is fully set forth in the text 
of the journal, for while his chief mission, as appears by 
his credentials, was one of exploration, he was also 
entrusted by the Governor, who was, as has been stated. 



Sketch of Christopher Gist. 91 

a member of the Ohio Company, with diplomatic powers 
to promote friendly relations with the Indian tribes dwell- 
ing on the waters of the Ohio. To comprehend the 
delicacy and importance of such a trust, as well as the 
dangers which his commission as agent of the Land 
Company implied, it will be well to glance at the status 
of affairs in the territory about to be visited, both as 
regards the Indians and the relations between the French 
and English. 

As has been said, the treaty of Aix la Chapelle left 
the question of boundary as to this territory of the two 
nations indefinite, and each laid claim to the Ohio lands. 
The English proceeded to take possession through the 
Ohio Company without the formal assertion of their 
claims, while the French emphasized their asserted right 
by a demonstration intended at once to be a notice to 
England and a warning to the Indians dwelling within 
the territory. To this end, in the spring of 1749, six 
months after the signing of the treaty, the Marquis de la 
Gallissoniere, Governor General of Canada, directed Cap- 
tain M. Celeron de Blainville, Knight of the Royal and 
Military Order of Saint Louis, to proceed to the Ohio and 
by planting leaden plates, duly engraved, at the mouth 
of the principal rivers, and by other formal processes, to 
set up the claim of France to all the territory watered 



92 Sketch of CJiristopher Gist. 

by the Ohio and its tributaries. He was also directed 
to order from the territory all English traders and occu- 
pants of land, and to require from the Indian tribes 
allegiance to France as the condition of remaining in 
possession of their lands. In pursuance of this order, 
Celeron, who has left a detailed journal' of his expedi- 
tion, set out from the vicinity of Montreal on the 15th 
of June, 1749, with a detachment of "one captain, eight 
subaltern officers, six cadets, one chaplain, one hundred 
and eighty Canadians, and about twenty Indians." He 
ascended the St. Lawrence in canoes, and crossing Lake 
Ontario made portage around Niagara Falls, and entering 
Lake Erie landed at a point between the present sites of 
Dunkirk and Erie. Thence he carried his canoes a dis- 
tance of twelve or fourteen miles to Lake Chautauqua, 
the French Chataquin, and passing through the lake and 
down the small stream, now the Chenango, which leads from 
it to the Alleghany River, reached its mouth, the present 
site of Warren, Pennsylvania. His entry for the 29th of 
July reads: "On the 29th I entered the Beautiful river. 
I had a leaden plate buried on which was engraved the 
taking possession which I made in the name of the King 
of this river and of all those that fall into it. I had also 

'The editor is indebted to Mr. Laurie J. Blakely, of Covington, Ken- 
tucky, for a full copy of Celeron's journal in manuscript, made from the 
original in the French Archives in Paris. 



Sketch of CJiristopher Gist 93 

attached to a tree the arms of the King struck on a plate 
of sheet iron, and of all this I drew up an official State- 
ment which Messieurs the officers signed ; Copy of written 
record of the position of the leaden plate and of the 
arms of the King deposited at the entrance of the Beau- 
tiful river, together with the Inscription : 

"In the year one thousand seventeen hundred and 
forty-nine Celeron Knight of the Royal and Military 
Order of St. Louis, Captain Commanding a detachment 
sent out by the orders of Monsieur the Marquis de la 
Gallissoniere, Governor General of New France, on the 
Beautiful River, otherwise called the Oyo, accompanied 
by the principal officers of the detachment buried at the 
foot of a red oak on the Southern bank of the river Oyo 
and of Kanongon, and at 42 degrees, 5 minutes, 23 seconds, 
a leaden plate with this inscription : 

"In the year 1749 in the reign of Louis XV King of France 
we Celeron commander of the detachment sent out by M the 
Marquis de la Gallissoniere Governor General of New France, to 
re-establish peace in some villages of these cantons, have buried 
this plate at the confluence of the Oyo and the Kanaongon the 
29th of July for a monument of the renewal of the possession 
we have taken of all the territories on both sides as far as the 
source of the said rivers, as the preceding Kings of France have 
so possessed them or should possess them and as they are main- 
tained therein by arms and by treaties and especially by those of 
Utrecht, Riswick and of Aix la Chapelle, have moreover affixed 



94 Sketch of Christopher Gist. 

the arms of the King to a tree. In testimony whereof we have 
drawn up and signed the present written record. Made at the 
entrance of the Beautiful River the 29th of July 1749." 

Similar plates were buried at the mouth of French 
Creek and of the Little Kanawha, Muskingum, Great 
Kanawha, and Great Miami, several of which have been 
since found by the caving of the river banks. At the 
mouth of French Creek, the site of Franklin, Venango 
County, Pennsylvania, he found six English soldiers with 
a large lot of furs on their way to Philadelphia, whom he 
notified to leave the country, and by them wrote a letter 
to James Hamilton, Governor of Pennsylvania, informing 
him of his mission, and warning him of the penalty which 
would be incurred by all English subjects who should 
intrude upon the country. Thus he continued down the 
Ohio in the execution of his orders, summoning the Indian 
tribes to council and informing them of the conditions 
upon which they would be permitted to retain their 
possessions, until reaching the Great Miami he passed 
up that stream northward to Detroit. Such were the 
conditions which Gist was called to confront when, 
accompanied only by a negro lad and a pack-horse, he 
started from Will's Creek, a little more than a year 
after Celeron passed down the Ohio, to find, as his 
journal discloses, the Indians well apprised of the con- 



Sketch of Christophey Gist. 95 

tention between the two powers as to their respective 
claims to lands which they considered their own. It is 
not to be wondered that on reaching the Ohio he recognized 
the propriety of concealing his compass from the observa- 
tion of the Indians, and merged his mission as an agent of 
the Ohio Land Company into that of a diplomatic envoy 
sent by the Governor of Virginia to cultivate their good will. 
His meeting with George Croghan, the noted Indian trader 
and Deputy Agent of Indian Affairs of Pennsylvania, pre- 
sents internal evidence of being more than an accident, and 
indicates that there was concurrent action on the part of 
the Governors of the two colonies. The account of their 
joint services in conciliating the Indians and strengthening 
the bonds of friendship between the most powerful Indian 
tribes and the English, as detailed in Gist's journal, presents 
a remarkable record of successful diplomacy, while the 
picture of Indian life and customs there portrayed, as well 
as the vivid description of the country through which they 
passed, in all its virgin richness, is a contribution to history 
as creditable to the author as the success of his long and 
perilous journey. 

In 1751-52 Colonel Gist made a second tour of explo- 
ration to examine the lands embraced in the company's 
grant on the waters of the Monongahela, his journal of 
which is also extant. At the treaty of Logstown, June 13, 



96 Sketch of Christopher Gist. 

1752, brought about by his mission to the Ohio Indians 
the year previous, by which the treaty of Lancaster in 
1744, ceding the lands afterward granted to the Ohio 
Company, was confirmed. Colonel Gist was present as a 
representative of the company, and his name appears on 
the treaty as one of the witnesses. After this service he 
made a settlement west of the Alleghany Mountains, 
between the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers, and 
not far from Redstone Old Fort, now Brownsville, Penn- 
sylvania. He was there engaged in founding a home in the 
wilderness when he was called upon to perform another 
service which has linked his name with that of Washington 
in a critical period of his career. The threatening attitude 
of the French brought from the Ohio Indians and traders 
an appeal to Governor Dinwiddie, who selected Washington, 
then in his twenty-second year, as a Commissioner to visit 
the French Commander at Venango, on the Upper Alleghany 
River, and remonstrate with him against the pretensions 
of France. On his way he met Gist at Will's Creek, who 
agreed to accompany him, and whose skill as a woodsman 
and knowledge of the country rendered him an invaluable 
companion and guide. During the trip Gist twice saved 
Washington's life. The journals of both, giving the details 
of this perilous journey made in midwinter, form a valuable 
record of the initial events which preceded the war with the 



Sketch of Christopher Gist. 97 

French, in which Washington found the miHtary school 
which fitted him for his great career as Commander of the 
Armies of the Revolution, and in which Gist was found as 
his most trusted friend and guide. He was with him in 
his victory at Great Meadows and in his disaster next day, 
July 4, 1754, at Fort Necessity, when Washington surren- 
dered to the French in superior numbers with the honors 
of war. At the battle of Braddock's defeat, July 9, 1755, 
he was present with two sons, Nathaniel and Thomas, and 
afterward raised a company of scouts in Maryland and 
Virginia, and did good service. In 1756 he went to the 
Cherokee country, now East Tennessee, to enlist Indians 
of that tribe in the English service, and later was Indian 
agent. His death occurred from smallpox in 1759.' 

The family of Colonel Gist, whose wife was Sarah 
Howard, consisted of three sons, Nathaniel, Richard, and 
Thomas, and two daughters, Anne and Violette. Richard 
was killed at the Battle of King's Mountain, and Thomas, 
after service in the French and Indian War, lived the 
quiet life of a farmer in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 
where he died in 1787. Nathaniel was a Colonel in the 
Virginia line, and rose to important command. 

'Christopher Gist's Journals, &c. , by W. M. Darlington, Pittsburgh, 
1893, page 88. In a sketch on Canewood, the home of Nathaniel Gist, 
written for the Lexington Illustrated Kentuckian by Judge James Flanagan, 
Christopher Gist is stated to have been killed at the battle of Braddock's 
defeat. i6 



9 8 Sketch of CJiristopher Gist. 

He did valuable service in the war against the Chero- 
kees in East Tennessee, who, having been faithful allies 
of the Virginians against the French, became their most 
formidable enemies during the Revolutionary War, requir- 
ing the vigilance of Sevier, Gist, Evan and Isaac Shelby, 
Christian, and Campbell to that line of the revolutionary 
defense, while to the northward such officers as George 
Rogers Clark, Logan, the Todds, and their scant force of 
pioneers held the line of Kentucky against the British 
and their Indian allies. But posterity will not readily 
ascribe to Nathaniel Gist the credit he deserves for his 
service in that southern field, since the historians of Ten- 
nessee and North Carolina who have recorded his brave 
deeds have handed him down as Nathaniel Guest. During 
the latter part of the war he was in command of the 
fort at Old Redstone, and after the peace settled as a 
planter in Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, in possession 
of a large estate. In the spring of 1793 he removed to 
Kentucky by the old route by which his father guided 
Washington to Redstone, and thence by family boat to 
Maysville, Kentucky, and settled on a tract of seven 
thousand acres of the most fertile lands in Bourbon 
County, received for his services in the French and Indian 
War. Here he built the famous homestead known as 
Canewood, long noted for the hospitality dispensed there. 



Sketch of Christopher Gist. 99 

He, however, survived but a short time, leaving a family 
of two sons, Thomas Cecil and Henry Clay, descendants 
of whom still live in that part of Kentucky, and seven 
daughters. Of these, Judith became the wife of Doctor 
Joseph Boswell, of Fayette County, Kentucky, and their 
daughter was the first wife of Governor Luke P. Black- 
burn ; Sarah married Honorable Jesse Bledsoe, who was 
Secretary of State under Governor Scott, member of both 
houses of the legislature, circuit judge, and United States 
Senator, and their daughter was the first wife of Judge 
Mason Brown, of Frankfort, and the mother of B. Gratz 
Brown, Governor of Missouri and Democratic candidate 
for Vice-President in 1872 ; Maria was the first wife of 
Benjamin Gratz, of Lexington, Kentucky, and the mother 
of Colonel Howard H. Gratz, present editor of the Lex- 
ington Gazette ; Eliza married Francis P. Blair, and 
among their children were General Frank P. Blair, Dem- 
ocratic candidate for Vice-President in 1868, and Mont- 
gomery Blair, Postmaster - General under Mr. Lincoln ; 
Anne married Captain Nat Hart, brother of the wife of 
Henry Clay, who lost his life at the Battle of Raisin, 
January 22, 181 3. One daughter, Davidella, died un- 
married. 

General James Taylor, in an unpublished autobiog- 
raphy, who met Colonel Gist at Redstone in 1793 when 



loo Sketch of Chyistophey Gist. 

he was on his way to settle in Kentucky, says of him : 
' ' I found him alone in a large military marquee with his 
servants, I think about thirty or forty about the fire. He 
was a large man of dark complexion, and I think near 
six feet high and of a commanding and intelligent 
appearance." Several years after his death his widow, 
whose maiden name was Judith Bell, married General 
afterward Governor Charles Scott. 

This brief biographical sketch of the second explorer 
who traversed Kentucky of whom there is record has 
been made up of data widely scattered and collated from 
many sources. It lacks much in detail which no research 
has been able to supply, as nowhere have I found a 
biographical notice except of the briefest and most meager 
character. Kentucky historians have devoted but a few 
lines to him or his exploration, and those contain more 
error than fact. It is not well that such a figure shall 
be lost sight of in the process of filling our vacant niches, 
illustrating as it does one of the very best types of the 
pioneers who blazed the way through the wilderness. 



Gist's Journal/ 



For the Honorable Robert Dinwiddie, Esquire, Governor and 
Commander of Virginia. 

( INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN MR. CHRISTOPHER GIST BY THE COMMITTEE OF THE 
OHIO COMPANY THE IITH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 175O.) 

\/0U are to go out as soon as possible to the Westward 
* of the great Mountains, and carry with you such 
a Number of Men as You think necessary, in Order to 
Search out and discover the Lands upon the river Ohio, 
& other adjoining Branches of the Mississippi down as 
low as the great Falls thereof : You are particularly to 
observe the Ways & Passes thro all the Mountains you 
cross, & take an exact Account of the Soil, Quality & 
Product of the Land, and the Wideness and Deepness 
of the Rivers, & the several Falls belonging to them, 
together with the Courses & Bearings of the Rivers & 
Mountains as near as you conveniently can : You are 

' It was at first intended, as stated in the Introduction, to print this 
journal from the text of Pownall, but afterward I concluded to use the 
one given in Judge Darlington's work on "Christopher Gist's Journals, 
Pittsburgh, 1888." A careful comparison shows no material difference, but 
in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation Judge Darlington's text conforms 
more closely to the original. — J. S. J. 



I02 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

also to observe what Nations of Indians inhabit there, 
their Strength & Numbers, who they trade with, & in 
what Comodities they deal. 

When you find a large quantity of good, level Land, 
such as you think will suit the Company, You are to 
measure the Breadth of it, in three or four different 
Places, & take the Courses of the River & Mountains 
on which it binds in Order to judge the Quantity : You 
are to fix the Beginning & Bounds in such a Manner 
that they may be easily found again by your Description ; 
the nearer in the Land lies the better, provided it be good 
& level, but we had rather go quite down the Mississippi 
than take mean broken Land. After finding a large 
Body of good level Land, you are not to stop but pro- 
ceed further, as low as the Falls of the Ohio, that we 
may be informed of that Navigation ; And You are to 
take an exact Account of all the large Bodies of good 
level Land, in the same Manner as above directed that 
the Company may the better judge when it will be most 
convenient for them to take their Land. 

You are to note all the Bodies of good Land as you 
go along, tho there is not a sufficient Quantity for the 
Company's Grant, but You need not be so particular 
in the Mensuration of that, as in the larger Bodies of 
Land. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 103 

You are to draw as good a plan as you can of the 
Country You pass thro : You are to take an exact and 
particular Journal of all Your Proceedings, and make a 
true Report thereof to the Ohio Company. 

1750. — In Complyance with my Instructions from the 
Committee of the Ohio Company bearing Date the nth 
Day of September 1750. 

Wednesday Oct 1750. — Set out from Colo Thomas 
Cresap's, ■ at the Old Town on Potomack River in Mary- 

' Colonel Thomas Cresap was a native of Yorkshire, England, who came 
over to Maryland about 1720. He was a carpenter by trade, and after- 
ward a surveyor, farmer, and Indian trader, as well as a noted Indian 
fighter. After having lived at Havre de Grace and in York County, Penn- 
sylvania, as also later on Antietam Creek, in the present Washington 
County, Maryland, about 1742 he fixed his residence at Old Town, or 
Skipton, as he named it, fifteen miles southeast of Cumberland, or Will's 
Creek, as it was called in early days, on the north side of the Potomac. 
Its site is just opposite to Green Spring Station, on the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railway, at the mouth of the South Branch of the Potomac. It was the 
site of an old Shawnee town, whence its name, and when Colonel Cresap 
moved there it was the westernmost settlement, and the rendezvous of all 
prospectors, ti'aders, and hunters. In 1748 Washington found accommo- 
dation there when he went to that region as surveyor of the lands of Lord 
Fairfax. Colonel Cresap was an agent of the Ohio Company, and as such 
built the road from Cumberland westward to the Monongahela River, 
along which Washington, who was also connected with that company, 
went in 1753 on his mission to the French at Venango, and which was 
Braddock's route in his disastrous campaign in 1755. Colonel Cresap 
was frequently a member of the Maryland Legislature, and left descend- 
ants who became prominent. His youngest son, Michael, was adjutant of 
the First Maryland Battalion in the Revolutionary War, but died early, 
and is buried in Trinity Churchyard, New York. It was he who was 
incidentally charged by Mr. Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia as having 
massacred the family of Logan, the "Mingo Chief, in 1774. Although the 
charge is embodied in Logan's famous speech, it has been disproved. 



104 yo7irnal of Christopher Gist. 

land, and went along an old Indian Path N 30 E about 
II Miles. 

Thursday Nov i. — Then N i Mile N 30 E 3 M. here 
I was taken sick and Stayed all Night. 

Friday 2. — N 30 E 6 M, here I was so bad that I 
was not able to proceed any farther that Night, but grew 
better in the Morning. 

Saturday 3. — N 8 M to Juniata, a large Branch of 
Susquehannah, where I stayed all Night. 

Sunday 4. — Crossed Juniatta and went up it S 55 W 
about 16 M. 

Monday 5. — Continued the same Course S 55 W 6 M 
to the top of a large Mountain Called the Allegany 
Mountain, here our Path turned, & we went N 45 
W 6 M here we encamped. 

Tuesday 6 Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8. — Had Snow 
and such bad Weather that We could not travel for 
three Days ; but I killed a young Bear so that we had 
Provision enough. 

Friday 9. — Set out N 70 W about 8 M here I crossed 
a creek of Susquehannah and it raining hard, I went 
into an old Indian Cabbin where I stay'd all Night. 

Saturday 10. — Rain and Snow all Day but cleared 
away in the Evening. 

Sunday 11. — Set out late in the Morning N 70 W 



yottrnal of Christopher Gist. 105 

6 M crossing two Forks of a Creek of Susquehannah, 
here the Way being bad, We encamped and I killed a 
Turkey. 

Monday 12. — Set out N 45 W 6 M to Loyalhannan 
an old Indian Town on a Creek of Ohio called Kiscomi- 
natis,' then N i M NW i M to an Indians Camp on the 
said Creek. 

Thursday 15. — The Weather being bad and I unwell 
I stayed here all Day : The Indian to whom this Camp 
belonged spoke good English and directed Me the Way 
to his Town which is called Shannopini Town : He said 
it was about 60 M and a pretty good Way. 

Friday 16.— Set out S 70 W 10 M. 

Saturday 17. — The same Course (S 70 W) 15 M to 
an old Indian's Camp. 

' The Kiskiminitas River , which flows from the Alleghany Mountains to 
the Ohio, into which it empties above Pittsburgh, near Kittanning, and 
along which the Pennsylvania Railroad finds its way. Loyalhannan, or 
Loyalhannon, was one of the first towns west of the AUeghanies noted on 
the older maps. Its site is occupied by the present town of Ligonier, in 
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, fifty-one miles east of Pittsburgh. 
It was so named in 1759 after General Ligonier, Commander-in-Chief of 
the British Army, who preceded General Granby, made famous by the 
strictures of Junius in his Letters. The route taken by Gist from Old 
Town, the residence of Colonel Cresap, was northward to the Juniata ; 
thence westward up that stream, crossing the Alleghany Mountains at its 
head, and thence down the waters of the Kiskiminitas. The name of Loyal- 
hannan is supposed to have been from Laurelhanne, a Delaware word 
meaning the middle stream, the Kiskiminitas at this point being half way 
between the mouth of the Juniata and Ohio River. 

17 



io6 Journal of Christopher Gist. 

Sunday 1 8. — I was very sick, and sweated myself 
according to the Indian Custom in a Sweat- House, which 
gave Me Ease, and my Fever abated. 

Monday 19. — Set out early in the Morning the same 
Course (S 70 W) travelled very hard about 20 M to a 
small Indian Town of the Delawares called Sliannopin ' 
on the SE side of the River Ohio, where We rested and 
got Corn for our Horses. 

Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 Thursday 22 and Fri- 
day 23. — I was unwell and stayed in this town to recover 
myself : While I was here I took an Opportunity to set 
my Compass privately, & took the distance across the 
River, for I understood it was dangerous "" to let a Com- 

' Shannopin's Town, as it was called, was named after a Delaware 
Indian who lived there. This tribe was subject to the Six Nations, or 
Iroquois, and friendly to the English. His name appears in the Colonial 
Records of Pennsylvania in connection with councils and treaties. He died 
in 1740. The village contained about twenty wigwams, and was just above 
the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers. Its site is now 
included in Pittsburgh, comprising part of the Twelfth Ward, between Penn 
Avenue, Thirtieth Street, and the Two Mile Run. It was the point at 
which Washington halted on his journey to Venango with Christopher 
Gist as his guide, November 23, 1753, and where he crossed the river. 

^This statement that it was dangerous to let it be known that he had 
a compass discloses a state of affairs which has an important bearing 
upon Gist's movements and the subsequent events leading up to the 
French and Indian War, known also as the Seven Years' War. The 
French, who in 1749 had asserted their claim to the land watered by the 
Ohio and its tributaries by burying leaden plates engraved with their 
formal declaration of right at the mouths of the principal rivers as low 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 107 

pass be seen among these Indians : The Ohio River is 
76 Poles wide at Shannopin Town : There are about 
twenty FamiHes in this Town : The Land in general from 
Potomack to this Place is mean Stony and broken, here 
and there good Spots upon the Creeks and Branches but 
no Body of it. 

Saturday 24. — Set out from Shannopin's town, and 
swam our Horses across the River Ohio, & went down the 
River S 74 W 4 M, N 75 W 7 M W 2 M, all the Land 
from Shannopin's Town is good along the River, but the 
Bottoms not broad ; At a Distance from the River good 
Land for Farming, covered with Small White Oaks and 
tolerable level ; fine Runs for Mills &c. 

down as the Great Miami, had sought to alienate the Indians along the 
Ohio from their loyalty to Great Britain by telling them that the English 
intended to take their lands. This was denied, and the ostensible mission 
of Gist as the representative of the Governor of Virginia was to disabuse 
their minds of any such purpose, and to cement their friendship with 
Great Britain by treaties of alliance against France. At the same time 
Gist was the accredited agent and surveyor of the Ohio Company, who 
was, as shown by his instructions, making this very trip for the purpose 
of examining and reporting upon the lands suitable for taking up under 
the grant embraced in their charter. It is noticeable also that Washing- 
ton, who three years later came to the Ohio upon a mission diplomatic 
rather than commercial, was also in the interest and an agent of the 
Ohio Land Company, and that the Indians who were most friendly to both 
him and Gist became the allies of France and the enemies of England in 
the Seven Years' War on account of the evident purpose of the English 
to appropriate their lands. 



io8 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Sunday Nov 25. — Down the River W 3 M, NW 3 M 
to Loggstown ; ' the Lands these last 8 M very rich the 
Bottoms above a Mile wide, but on S E side, scarce 
a Mile wide, the Hills high and steep. In the Loggs 
Town, I found scarce any Body but a Parcel of repro- 
bate Traders, the Chiefs of the Indians being out a 
hunting : here I was informed that George Croghan ' & 

' Logstown was eighteen miles below the site of Pittsburgh, on the 
north side of the Ohio River, just below the present site of the town of 
Economy, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It was established by the 
Shawnees about twenty years before Gist's visit, when they emigrated 
from eastward of the Alleghanies. It was an important point before the 
settlement of Pittsburgh. Washington and Gist remained here from the 
24th to 30th of November, 1753, and Washington was also here in October, 
1770. Here also was held, June 30, 1752, between the Six Nations and 
the Commissioners of Virginia, Joshua Fry, Lunsford Lomax, and James 
Patton, a treaty supplementary to and confirmatory of that of Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, July 2, 1744. It was witnessed, among others, by William 
Trent, George Croghan, Christopher Gist, William Preston, and Hugh 
Crawford, several of whom are mentioned in this journal. 

° George Croghan was a noted character in the early settlement of the 
West. He was an Irishman, and came to America in 1746 with Sir William 
Johnson, who was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New York, resident 
among the Six Nations, of whom he became a chief, his second wife being 
an Indian woman. Croghan was made his deputy and became an Indian 
trader, his operations being chiefly in the western part of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia and in Ohio. He had in his employment a number of other 
Irishmen, who, as traders, exerted a large influence among the Indians 
in maintaining their allegiance to the English as against the French. He 
was also a Captain in the British service, taking active part in the French 
and Indian War, and was entrusted with important functions in making 
treaties with the Indians as well as promoting the interest of the Ohio 
Company. His operations in these several capacities extended over a 
period of nearly forty years, and a record of his adventures and important 
services would fill a volume. In 1763 he was sent to England by Sir 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 109 

Andrew Montour' who were sent upon an Embassy from 
Pennsylvania to the Indians, were passed about a Week 

William Johnson to confer with the British Ministry in regard to an Indian 
boundary line. In 1765 he made a voyage down the Ohio River as far 
as Fort Massac to secure the friendship of the Illinois Indians, and was 
wounded in an attack upon his party by friendly Indians, who mistook 
him for an enemy. From the Ohio River he made his way northward 
to Detroit. His journal of the expedition is published in the appendix of 
Butler's History of Kentucky, and is an interesting contribution to the 
history of the period. He was an uncle of Doctor John Connolly, to 
whom was issued by Lord Dunmore a patent for a two-thousand-acre 
grant, upon which Louisville is located. He was a cousin of Major William 
Croghan, of Locust Grove, near Louisville, who married the sister of 
George Rogers Clark, and the tract of land upon which he lived is said 
to have been acquired from George Croghan. He was at one time a man 
of large wealth, accumulated as an Indian trader, and owned large bodies 
of land in the West. His correspondence with the leading officers and 
men of prominence during his long career gives evidence of more than 
ordinarj' education and influence. In Washington's western tour in 1770, 
his journal shows that on October i8th he "dined with Col. Croghan," 
who had his residence, or seat as Washington terms it, on the banks of 
the Alleghany, four miles above Fort Pitt. His rank was probably only 
titular as deputy agent of Sir William Johnson. During the Revolutionary 
War he was not regarded without suspicion by the American loyalists, 
but as he continued to reside on his farm without molestation he was 
probably unjustly accused. Many of his associates in business were 
loyalists, as Alexander McKee and Doctor Connolly, and some of them, 
as the former, were leaders of the Indians in their bloody incursions into 
Kentucky. His chief, Sir William Johnson, died in 1774, before the 
commencement of hostilities, but the Six Nations took active part with 
the British. The presence of Croghan in Ohio at the time of Gist's tour 
was as agent of the Governor of Pennsylvania to treat with the Shawnees 
and other Indian tribes of that territory, as Gist was of the Governor of 
Virginia. 

' Andrew Montour was a mixed breed of French and Indian descent, 
his mother, who was a half-breed, being long noted as Madame Montour, 
the wife of a prominent chief of the Six Nations, who acted as interpreter 



I lo your Hill of Christopher Gist. 

before me. The People in this Town, began to enquire my 
Business, and because I did not readily inform them, they 
began to suspect me, and said, I was come to settle the 
Indian's Lands and they knew I should never go Home 
again Safe ; I found this Discourse was like to be of ill 
Consequence to me, so I pretended to speak very slightingly 
of what they had said to me and enquired for Croghan (who 
is a meer Idol among his Countrymen the Irish Traders) 
and Andrew Montour the Interpreter for Pennsylvania, and 
told them I had a message to deliver the Indians from the 
King, by Order of the President of Virginia, & for that 

in councils and treaties. Her son Andrew also became an interpreter as 
early as 1744, when he performed that function at the Treaty of Lancaster, 
by which the Indians ceded to the English all their lands in Virginia. He was 
at Logstown in 1748, and was employed by the British to keep the Indians 
from being diverted from their allegiance by the French. To the latter he 
was an object <^ special disfavor, a price being set upon his head. On the 
present occasion he was acting as interpreter for Croghan in his communica- 
tion with the Indians. He officiated as interpreter at the meeting at Logs- 
town, May 18, 1751, arranged by Gist and Croghan on their tour at this 
time, and also at the treaty at the same place in May, 1752, when the 
Treaty of Lancaster, which the Indians had questioned, was confirmed. In 
1753 he was interpreter at the conference at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, between 
the representatives of the Six Nations and Secretary R. Peters, Isaac Morris, 
and Benjamin Franklin, Commissioners of Pennsylvania. In 1754 he was 
employed as interpreter and confidential agent in Washington's advance to 
the Ohio, and he was with him at the surrender at Fort Necessity, remaining 
with him during the Braddock Campaign in the following year. He con- 
tinued in active and faithful service with the English for many years, and 
was one of the interpreters at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the site of the 
present city of Rome, New York, October, 1768, by which the Six Nations, 
for ten thousand pounds sterling, ceded to Virginia all of their lands 
south of the Ohio, including Kentucky, to the Tennessee River. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 1 1 

Reason wanted to see M. Montour : This made them all 
pretty easy (being afraid to interrupt the King's Message) 
and obtained me Quiet and Respect among them, other- 
wise I doubt not they would have contrived some Evil 
against me — I immediately wrote to M Croghan, by one of 
the Traders People. 

Monday 26. — Tho I was unwell, I preferred the Woods 
to such Company & set out from the Loggs Town down 
the River N W 6 M to great Beaver Creek ' where I met 
Barney Curran'' a trader for the Ohio Company, and We 

' Beaver Creek empties into the Ohio a few miles below Logstown, the 
town of Rochester, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, being at its mouth. The 
stream, named for Beaver, King of the Delawares, rises in the dividing 
territory between the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio, interlapping with 
the former streams. Washington, in his tour of 1770, noted the feasibility 
of a canal along this line, and in a letter to him from Mr. Jefferson, written 
in Paris, January 4, 1786, occurs the following reference to the same subject : 
' ' I sincerely rejoice that three such works as the opening the Potomac and 
James rivers and a canal from the Dismal Swamp Canal are likely to be 
carried through. There is a fourth, however, which I had the honor, I 
believe, of mentioning to you in a letter of March the 15th, 1784, from 
Annapolis. It is the cutting a canal which shall unite the head of the 
Cuyahoga and Beaver Creek." Mr. Jefferson's idea was to make a continuous 
waterway to the East by connecting the waters of the Kanawha with those 
of the James or the Monongahela with the Potomac. 

^ Barney Curran was an old Indian trader long associated with George 
Croghan. He afterward was one o^ Washington's attendants on his trip 
from Will's Creek (Cumberland), Maryland, to Venango. In Washington's 
journal is an entry made at Will's Creek, November 14, 1753, as follows: 
"Here I engaged Mr. Gist to pilot us out, and also hired four others as 
hunters, Barnaby Curran and John McGuire, Indian traders, Henry Steward 
and William Jenkins ; and in company with them left the inhabitants the next 
day." (Washington's Journal, Note 1, Appendix to Volume II, Marshall's 
Life of Washington.) 



112 yoiirnal of Christopher Gist. 

continued together as far as Muskingum. The Bottoms 
upon the River below the Logg's Town were very rich but 
narrow, the high Land being pretty good but not very rich, 
the Land upon Beaver Creek the same kind ; From this 
Place We left the River Ohio to the S E & travelled across 
the Country. 

Tuesday 27. — Set out from E. side of Beaver Creek 
NW 6 M, W 4 M ; up these last two Courses very good 
high Land, not very broken, fit for farming. 

Wednesday 28. — Rained, We could not travel. 

Thursday 29. — W 6 M thro good Land, the same 
Course continued 6 M farther thro very broken Land ; 
here I found myself pretty well recovered & being in Want 
of Provision, I went out and killed a Deer. 

Friday 30. — Set out S 45 W 12 M. Crossed the last 
Branch of Beaver Creek where one of Curran's Men & 
myself killed 12 Turkeys. 

Saturday Dec i. — N 45 W 10 M the Land high and 
tolerable good. 

Sunday 2. N 45 W 8 M. the same Sort of Land, but 
near the Creeks bushy, and very full of Thorns. 

Monday 3. — Killed a Deer, and stayed in our Camp 
all Day. 

Tuesday 4. — Set out late S 45 W about 4 M here I 
killed three fine Deer, so that tho we were eleven in Com- 
pany, We had great Plenty of Provision. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 113 

Wednesday 5. — Set out down the Side of a Creek 
called Elk's Eye ' Creek S 70 W 6 M, good Land, but void 
of Timber, Meadows upon the Creek, fine Runs for Mills. 

Thursday 6. — Rained all Day so that we were obliged 
to continue in our Camp. 

Friday 7. — Set out S W 8 M crossing the said Elk's 
Eye Creek to a Town of the Ottaways, a Nation of the 
French Indians ; an old French Man (named Mark Coonce) 
who had married an Indian Woman of the six Nations 
lived here ; the Indians were all out a hunting ; the old 
Man was- very civil to me, but after I was gone to my 
Camp, upon understanding I came from Virginia, he called 
me a Long Knife. There are not above six or eight 
Families belonging to this Town. 

Saturday 8.— Stayed in the Town. 

Sunday 9.— Set out down the said Elk's Eye Creek 
S 45 W 6 M to Margaret's Creek ^ a Branch of the said 
Elk's Eye Creek. 

' He was now near Oneida, Carroll County, Ohio, on Big Sandy Creek, a 
branch of the Tuscarawas, one of the streams which united form the Mus- 
kingum. The name ' ' Elk's Eye " was applied to each of the streams. The 
name Muskingum is from the Delaware word Mooshingung, or Elk's Eye, the 
elk being called by them moos. The waters of the Upper Muskingum and 
the Cuyahoga are utilized for a canal from Cleveland to Columbus, and 
thence down the Scioto to Portsmouth at its mouth. The Muskingum is set 
down on Father Bonnecamp's Map of Celeron's Expedition, 1749, as the 
Yananguekonuan. 

^ Margaret's Creek was named for Margaret Montour, sister of Andrew 
Montour, the interpreter. 

18 



1 1 4 yoitrnal of Christopher Gist. 

Monday Dec lo. — The same Course (S 45 W) 2 M 
to a large Creek. 

Tuesday 11. — The same Course 8 M. encamped by 
the Side of the Elk's Eye Creek. 

Thursday 13. — Rained all Day. 

Friday 14. — Set out W 5 IM to Muskingum' a Town 
of the Wyendotts. The Land upon Elk's Eye Creek is 
in general very broken, the Bottoms narrow. The Wyen- 
dotts or little Mingoes are divided between the French 
and English, one half of them adhere to the first, and 
the other half are firmly attached to the latter. The 
Town of Muskingum consists of about one hundred Fam- 
ilies. When We came within Sight of the Town, We 
perceived English Colours hoisted on the King's House, 
and at George Croghans ; ' upon enquiring the Reason I 
was informed that the French had lately taken several 
Enghsh Trader's, and that Mr Croghan had ordered all 
the White Men to come into this town, and had sent 
Expresses to the Traders of the lower Towns, and among 

' Muskiugum, a town of the Wyandots, on the Muskingum, near the 
present site of Coshocton, in the county of the same name. 

° Croghan had a trading-house here, which, in 1753, was seized by the 
French and his goods confiscated to the value of one hundred and fifty 
pounds sterling, as shown by his affidavit for reimbursement by his govern- 
ment. Four traders were captured by order of Celeron, the French Com- 
mander at Detroit, three of whom were sent captive to France, but after 
three months' imprisonment restored to their friends. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 1 5 

the Pickweylinees ; and the Indians had sent to their 
People to come to Council about it. 

Saturday 15 & Sunday 16. — Nothing remarkable hap- 
pened. 

Monday 17. — Came into Town two Traders belonging 
to M Croghan, and informed Us that two of his People 
were taken by 40 French Men, & twenty French Indians 
who had carried them with seven Horse Loads of Skins 
to a new Fort that the French were building on one of 
the Branches of Lake Erie. 

Tuesday 18. — I acquainted Mr Croghan and Andrew 
Montour with my Business with the Indians, & talked 
much of a Regulation of Trade with which they were 
much pleased, and treated Me very kindly. 

From Wednesday 19 to Monday 24. — Nothing remark- 
able. 

Tuesday 25. — This being Christmass Day, I intended 
to read Prayers, but after inviting some of the White 
Men, they informed each other of my Intentions, and 
being of several different Persuasions, and few of them 
inclined to hear any Good, they refused to come. But 
one Thomas Burney a Black Smith who is settled there 
went about and talked to them, & several of them came, 
and Andrew Montour invited several of the well disposed 
Indians, who came freely ; by this Time the Morning 



ii6 yoiiinial of CJiristophey Gist. 

was spent, and I had given over all Thoughts of them, 
but seeing Them come, to oblige All and offend None, 
I stood up and said. Gentlemen, I have no Design 
or Intention to give Offence to any particular Sectary or 
Religion, but as our King indulges us all in a Liberty 
of Conscience and hinders none of You in the Exercise of 
your religious Worship, so it would be unjust in you to 
endeavor to stop the Propagation of His : The Doctrine 
of the Salvation Faith, and good Works, is what I only 
propose to treat of, as I find it extracted from the Homilies 
of the Church of England, which I then read them in 
the best manner I could, and after I had done the Inter- 
preter told the Indians what I had read, and that it was 
the true Faith which the great King and His Church 
recommended to his Children:' The Iiidians seemed well 
pleased, and came up to Me and returned Me their 
Thanks ; and then invited Me to live among Them ; and 
gave Me a Name in their Language Annosanah : the 
Interpreter told me this was a Name of a good Man 
that had formerly lived among them, and their King said 
that must be always my Name, for which I returned 
them Thanks ; but as to living among them I excused 
myself by saying I did not know whether the Governor 

' This religious service antedates any other held within the limits of the 
present State of Ohio by a Protestant by nearly sixteen years, and was 
twenty-one years in advance of the Moravian missionaries. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 1 7 

would give Me Leave, and if he did the French would 
come and carry me away as they had done the English 
Traders, to which they answered I might bring great 
Guns and make a P'ort, that they had now left the 
French, and were very desirous of being instructed in 
the Principles of Christianity ; that they liked Me very 
well and wanted Me to marry Them after the Christian 
Manner, and baptize their Children ; and then they said 
they would never desire to return to the French, or suffer 
Them or their Priests to come near them more, for they 
loved the English, but had seen little Religion among 
Them ; and some of their great Men came and wanted 
Me to baptize their Children ; for as I had read to them 
and appeared to talk about Religion they took me to be 
a Minister of the Gospel ; Upon which I desired Mr 
Montour (the Interpreter) to tell Them, that no Minister 
Coud venture to baptize any Children, until those that 
were to be sureties for Them, were well instructed in the 
Faith themselves, and that this was according to the 
great King's Religion, in which He desired his Children 
should be instructed & We dare not do it in any other 
Way, than was by Law established, but I hoped if I 
coud not be admitted to live among them, that the great 
King woud send Them proper Ministers to exercise that 
Office among them, at which they seemed well pleased ; 



1 1 8 yournal of Christopher Gist 

and one of Them went and brought Me his Book (which 
was a kind contrived for Them by the French in which 
the Days of the Week were so marked that by moving 
a Pin every Morning they kept a pretty exact Account of 
the Time) to shew Me that he understood Me and that 
He and his Family always observed the Sabbath Day. 

Wednesday Dec 26. — This day a Woman, who had 
been a long Time a Prisoner, and had deserted, & been 
retaken, and brought into the Town on Christmass Eve, 
was put to Death in the following manner : They car- 
ried her without the Town & let her loose, and when she 
attempted to run away, the Persons appointed for that 
Purpose pursued her, & struck Her on the Ear, on the 
right side of her Head, which beat her flat on her Face 
on the Ground ; they then struck her several Times, thro 
the Back with a Dart, to the Heart, scalped Her, & 
threw the Scalp in the Air, and another Cut off her 
Head : There the dismal Spectacle lay till the Evening, 
& then Barny Curran desired Leave to bury Her, which 
He and his Men, and some of the Indians did just at Dark. 

From Thursday Dec 27 to Thursday Jany 3 1751. — 
Nothing remarkable happened in Town. 

Friday Jan 4. — One Teafe ' (an Indian Trader) came 
to Town from near Lake Erie, & informed Us that the 

'Michael Taaf, or Teaff, was a partner of George Croghan, and lived 
on the Susquehanna. 



yournal of Cltyistopher Gist. 119 

Wyendott Indians had advised him to keep clear of the 
Ottaways (these are a Nation of Indians firmly attached 
to the French, & inhabit near the Lakes) & told him 
that the Branches of the Lakes are claimed by the French ; 
but that all the Branches of the Ohio belonged to Them, 
and their Brothers the English, and that the French had 
no Business there, & that it was expected that the other 
Part of the Wyendott Nation would desert the French 
and come over to the English Interest, & join their 
Brethren on the Elk's Eye Creek, & build a strong Fort 
and Town there. 

From Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8. — The weather still 
continuing bad, I stayed in the Town to recruit my Horses, 
and the corn was very dear among the Indians, I was 
obliged to feed them well, or run the Risque of losing 
them as I had a great way to travel. 

Wednesday 9. — The Wind Southerly, and the Weather 
something warmer : this day came into Town two Traders 
from among the Pickwaylinees (these are a Tribe of the 
Twigtwees) and brought News that another English 
Trader' was taken prisoner by the French, and that three 
French Soldiers had deserted and come over to the Eng- 
lish, and surrendered themselves to some of the Traders 
of the Pick Town, & that the Indians woud have put 

'John Pattin, taken at Fort Miami. 



I20 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

them to Death, to revenge their taking our Traders, but 
as the French Prisoners had surrendered themselves, the 
Enghsh woud not let the Indians hurt them, but had 
ordered them to be sent under the care of three of our 
Traders and delivered at this Town to George Croghan. 

Thursday lo. — Wind still at South and Warm. 

Friday ii. — This Day came into Town an Indian from 
over the Lakes & confirmed the News we had heard. 

Saturday 12. — We sent away our People towards the 
lower Town intending to follow them the next Morning, 
and this Evening We went into Council in the Wyendott's 
King's House. The Council had been put off a long time 
expecting some of their great Men in, but few of them 
came, & this Evening some of the King's Council being 
a little disordered with Liquor, no Business coud be done, 
but We were desired to come next Day. 

Sunday Janry 13. — This Day George Croghan by the 
Assistance of Andrew Montour, acquainted the King and 
Council of this Nation (by presenting them four Strings 
of Wampum) that the great King over the Water, their 
Roggony (Father) had sent under the care of the Governor 
of Virginia, their Brother, a large Present of Goods which 
was now landed safe in Virginia, & the Governor had sent 
Me to invite them to come and see Him & partake of their 
Father's Charity to all his Children on the Branches of the 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 2 1 

Ohio. In Answer to which one of the Chiefs stood up and 
said, That their King and all of Them thanked their 
Brother the Governor of Virginia for his Care, and Me 
for bringing them the News, but they coud not give Me an 
Answer untill they had a full or general Council of the 
several Nations of Indians which coud not be till next 
Spring : & so the King and Council shaking Hands with 
Us We took our Leave. 

Tuesday 15. — We left Muskingum, and went W 5 M, 
to the White Womans Creek, on which is a small Town ; ' 
this White Woman was taken away from New England, 
when she was not above ten years old, by the French 
Indians ; She is now upwards of fifty, and has an Indian 
Husband and several Children — Her name is Mary Harris, 
she still remembers they used to be very rehgious in New 
England, and wonders how the White Men can be so 
wicked as she has seen them in these Woods. 

Wednesday 16. — Set out SW 25 M to Licking Creek — 
The Land from Muskingum to this Place rich but broken 
— Upon the N Side of Licking Creek about 6 M from the 
Mouth, are severa Salt Licks, or Ponds, formed by little 
Streams or Dreins of Water, clear but of a blueish Colour, 
& salt Taste the Traders and Indians boil their Meat in 

' This town was four miles west of Coshoctou. His route thence was 
southwest, passing near Newark, in Licking County. 



122 yoiirnal of Chnstopher Gist. 

this Water, which (if proper Care be not taken) will some- 
times make it too salt to eat. 

Thursday 17. — Set out W 5 M, S W 15 M, to a 
great Swamp. 

Friday 18. — Set out from the great Swamp S W 15 M. 

Saturday 19. — W 15 M to Hockhockin' a small Town 
with only four or five Delaware Families. 

Sunday 20. — The Snow began to grow thin, and the 
Weather warmer ; Set out from Hockhockin S 5 M then 
W 5 M, then S W 5 M, to the Maguck' a little Delaware 
Town of about ten Families by the N Side of a plain or 
clear Field about 5 M in Length NE&SW&2M 
broad, with a Small Rising in the Middle, which gives 
a fine Prospect over the whole Plain, and a large Creek 
on the N Side of it Called Sciodoe^ Creek. All the way 

' The site of the present town of Lancaster, county-seat of Fairfield 
County. The name Hockhocking is from the Delaware language, meaning a 
gourd with a neck, and applies to the shape of the creek of same name, on 
which it was situated. 

^ The Maguck was three miles south of Circleville, Pickaway County. 

3 This was one of many names for the Scioto River, which is from a 
Shawnee word meaning deer. The Cumberland Mountains, in Kentucky, 
from which the river of the same name takes its rise, were known as the 
Ouasiota Mountains, given, doubtless, by the Shawnees, who dwelt on the 
Cumberland River, which was called the Shawnee River. The name 
Ouasiota, also sometimes called Ona-Sciota, was also given to a pass up 
Station Camp Creek, in Estill County, Kentucky, which formed part of the 
Indian war trace which led from the Shawnee town at the mouth of 
the Scioto to the Cumberland. The Shawnees were conquered by the 
Iroquois, or Five Nations, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, 



youynal of Christophey Gist. 123 

from Licking Creek to this Place is fine rich level Land, 
with large Meadows, Clover Bottoms & spacious Plains 
covered with wild Rye ; the Wood chiefly large Walnuts 

and compelled by them to remove to the Potomac and Susquehanna, 
where they were held as tributary dependents of the Iroquois. When, 
by treaties, the Iroquois ceded these lands to the English, the Shawnees 
became a roving tribe, removing first to the Alleghany and Ohio, and 
later to the Scioto. A portion of the tribe returned, also, to the Cumber- 
land, and for a time occupied the rich lands in the region about Nash- 
ville, but were driven out by their ancient enemies, the Cherokees, who 
had themselves once been conquered by the Iroquois, and remained their 
tributary allies. The Shawnees also had a town, which is known by their 
name yet, at the mouth of the Wabash. They were the most deadly foes of 
the pioneers, and for many years harassed the emigrants who came down the 
Ohio in boats, and contested with those in Kentucky for their ancient hunting- 
grounds by constant incursions in organized bodies and predatory bands. 
They developed the most skillful leaders of any Indians in America in such 
chiefs as the Cornplanter and Tecumseh, and in the battle of Point Pleasant, 
October lo, 1774, under the former, displayed a strategy, persistency, and 
discipline, skill, and bravery superior to any exhibited in the annals of Indian 
warfare. 

The Iroquois and Six Nations are used as synonymous terms. They 
were a confederation of Indian nations which had their stronghold in the 
lake region of New York, and at one time or other dominated all the other 
nations east of the Mississippi and south of Canada, except the Chicka- 
saws and a few others of the South, and the Miamis or Twigtees of the 
North. They were composed at the beginning of the eighteenth century 
of five nations — the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Senacas, and Cayugas. 
In 1 7 12 the Tuscaroras living on the seacoast near the line of Virginia 
and CaroUna were conquered by the English, and, moving to New York, 
became the sixth nation of the Iroquois confederacy. Charlevoix, Volume 
III, page 174, says the Iroquois conquered the Shawnees in 1672 and 
incorporated into their cantons a great many of the captives, a common 
practice with them, " to repair at the expense of their enemies the ravages 
caused in their nation by the ravages of war." At that time they dwelt 
in the neighborhood of the Six Nations east of the Alleghanies. After 



124 yournal of CJinstopher Gist. 

and Hickories, here and there mixed with Poplars Cherry 
Trees and Sugar Trees. 

From Monday 21 to Wednesday 23. — Stayed in the 
Maguck Town. 

Thursday 24. — Set out from the Maguck Town S about 
15 M, thro fine rich level Land to a small Town called 
Harrickintoms consisting of about five or six Delaware 
Families on the S W Sciodoe Creek. 

Friday 25. — The Creek being very high and full of 
Ice, We could not ford it, and were obliged to go down 
it on the S E Side 4 M to the Salt Lick Creek — about 
I M up this Creek on the S Side is a very large Salt 
Lick," the Streams which run into this Lick are very salt, 
& tho clear leave a blueish Sediment ; The Indians and 
Traders make salt for their Horses of this Water, by 
boiling it ; it has at first a blueish Colour, and somewhat 
bitter Taste, but upon being dissolved in fair Water and 
boiled a second Time, it becomes tolerable pure Salt. 

Saturday 26. — Set out S 2 M, S W 14 M. 

this those not thus incorporated spread westward in roving bands, and 
ultimately became a powerful nation north of the Ohio along the Scioto. 
In a foot-note to above cited page, Shea, the editor of Charlevoix, says : 
"The Shawnees are the only tribe I have met whose name was the same 
among all the tribes, Choctaws, Huron, Iroquois, or Algonquins — Chaou- 
nouronon. The history of their roving bands is very vague and obscure." 
' This was the site of the Scioto Salt Works in Ross County, which 
in early days were the source of supply for this portion of Ohio. 



yournal of CJiristopher Gist. 125 

Sunday 27. — S 12 M to a small Delaware Town of 
about twenty Families on the S. E. Side of Sciodoe 
Creek — We lodged at the House of an Indian whose 
Name was Windaughala, ' a great Man and Chief of this 
Town, & much in the English Interest. He entertained 
Us very kindly and ordered a Negro Man that belonged 
to him to feed our Horses well ; this Night it snowed, 
and in the Morning the Snow was six or seven Inches 
deep, the wild Rye appeared very green and flourishing 
thro it, and our Horses had fine Feeding. 

Monday Jany 28. — We went into Council with the 
Indians of this Town, and after the Interpreter had 
informed them of his Instructions from the Governor of 
Pennsylvania, and given them some Cautions in Regard 
to the French they returned for Answer as follows. The 
Speaker with four Strings of Wampum in his Hand stood 
up, and addressing Himself as to the Governor of Penn- 
sylvania, said, "Brothers, We the Delawares return You 
our hearty Thanks for the News You have sent Us, and 
We assure You, We will not hear the Voice of any other 
Nation for We are to be directed by You our Brothers 

' " Heckwelder's Indian Nations," page ig8, says that Windaughalah 
was a great war chief. In 1762 he lived at Tuscarawas, and there had 
a water lizard tattooed on his face above the chin, one of the few instances 
recorded of tattooing among the American Indians. He was prominent 
in councils in times of peace, and participated in many important treaties. 
Tuscawaras was on the east branch of the Scioto, in Ross County. 



126 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

the English, & by none else : We shall be glad what 
our Brothers have to say to us at the Loggs Town in 
the Spring, and to assure You of our hearty Good will 
& Love to our Brothers We present You with these four 
Wampum." This is the last Town of the Delawares to 
the Westward — The Delaware Indians by the best 
Accounts I could gather Consist of about 500 fighting 
Men all firmly attached to the English Interest, they are 
not properly a Part of the six Nations, but are scattered 
about amongst most of the Indians of the Ohio, and some 
of them among the six Nations, from whom they have 
Leave to hunt upon their Lands. 

Tuesday 29. — Set out S W 5 M, to the Mouth of 
Sciodoe Creek opposite to the Shannoah Town, ' where We 

' Much ambiguity and variance of statement are to be found in the early 
accounts of the location of this town. The main town, as it existed when 
Gist visited it, of one hundred houses, was on the west bank of the Scioto, 
which was an injudicious location, as it was much lower and more subject 
to inundation than the eastern bank, from which Gist approached it. There 
was also, as Gist says, a smaller town of forty houses on the south side 
of the Ohio River, directly opposite the mouth of the Scioto, where there 
is no bottom land, but high ground never subject to overflow. Celeron, 
when upon his expedition in 1749 for the purpose of asserting the claim 
of France to all the territory watered by the Ohio and its tributaries by 
planting leaden plates at the mouth of the principal rivers from the head- 
waters of the Alleghany to the Great Miami, arrived at the mouth of the 
Scioto August 22d and remained there until the 26th. He calls it in 
his journal St. Yotoc, while Bonnecamp, in his map of the expedition, has 
it the Sinhioto. In the same way Celeron calls the Ohio L'Oyo, and 
Bonnecamp L'Ohio. Celeron did not land at the town, owing to the large 
body of Shawnees and their reputed hostility, but camped on the Kentucky 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 127 

fired our Guns to alarm the Traders, who soon answered, 
and came and ferryed Us over to the Town — The Land 

side, to which place, after some parleying, the Shawnees sent a delegation 
of their principal men and went through the formality of a council, with 
elaborate speeches and the exchange of wampum belts. But the Shawnees, 
while respectful and proclaiming peaceful intentions, did not, as some of the 
tribes at the headwaters, make any declaration of allegiance to the French 
as against the English. In his speech Celeron, referring to the distrust 
they had shown on his approach, asked them what had become of the good 
spirit they had shown for the French when ten years before General de 
Longueuil passed there on his way from Canada to assist Bienville, 
Governor of Louisiana, in his last campaign against the Chickasaws, of 
which expedition Celeron was also an officer. He reminded them that 
they then offered to send their warriors with him. Manuscript copy of 
Celeron's journal in my possession. Gayarre's History of Louisiana, pages 
509, 510. 

George Croghan, who left Fort Pitt with two bateaux May 15, 1765, 
and arrived at the mouth of the Scioto on the 23d, says in his journal 
in Appendix to second edition of Mann Butler's History of Kentucky, 
Cincinnati, 1836, page 462: "On the Ohio just below the mouth of the 
Scioto, on a high bank, near forty feet, formerly stood the Shawnessetown, 
called the lower town, which was all carried away except three or four 
houses by a great flood of the Scioto. I was in the town at the time, 
though the banks of the Ohio were so high the water was nine feet on 
the top, which obliged the whole town to take to their canoes and move 
with their effects to the hills. The Shawnesse afterward built their town 
on the opposite side of the river, which, during the French War, they 
abandoned for fear of the Virginians, and moved to the plains of the 
Scioto." 

The expedition of Croghan seems to have been the counterpart of 
Celeron. The latter officer, in 1749 (the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle between 
the French and English having been made October 18, 1748), passed down 
the Ohio asserting the French claim to all the territory watered by the 
Ohio and its tributaries, ordering off the English traders, and demanding 
the allegiance of the Indian tribes. This led to the renewal of war between 
England and France, which is known as the French and Indian War, or 
the Seven Years' War, although actual hostilities preceded the formal decla- 
ration several years. It was terminated by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 



128 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

about the Mouth of Sciodoe Creek is rich but broken 
fine Bottoms upon the river & Creek — The Shannoah 

1763, by which France ceded to England Canada and all her possessions 
east of the Mississippi, while all west of the Mississippi was ceded to Spain. 
Following this surrender of the claim of France, Croghan was sent to 
give formal notice to the tribes of the change of proprietorship and to 
demand their allegiance to the English King. He was even more exacting 
than Celeron, whose claims were not so well founded. We find, for instance, 
in his entry of May 20th, the following, when at the mouth of the Hock- 
hocking : ' ' From here I dispatched an Indian to the Plains of Scioto 
with a letter to the French traders of the Illinois residing there amongst 
the Shawnesse, requiring them to come and join me at the mouth of the 
Scioto in order to proceed with me to their own country, and take the 
oaths of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty, as they were now become 
his subjects and had no right to trade there without license. At the same 
time I sent messages to the Shawnesse Indians to oblige the French traders 
to come to me in case of refusal." And in an entry while at the mouth 
of the Scioto, 24th, 25th, and 26th of May, he says: "Stayed at the 
mouth of the Scioto waiting for the Shawnesse and French traders, who 
arrived here on the evening of the 26th, in consequence of the message I 
sent them from the Hockhockin or Battle Creek." 

Captain Harry Gordon, Chief Engineer of the Western Department, 
who was sent from Fort Pitt to the Illinois, and made an expedition down 
the Ohio to St. Louis in 1766, arrived at the mouth of the Scioto on 
June 29th, which he states at three hundred and sixty-six miles from 
Pittsburgh — a variance of only twelve and a half miles from that fixed by 
Government survey of 1867-68. He remained there until July 8th, but 
makes no mention of any town or Indians. This is additional confirma- 
tion of the tradition that in 1758 the Shawnees abandoned their Ohio River 
towns and moved to the plains of the Scioto to Old Chillicothe on the 
west bank of that river four miles below Circleville, as being more secure 
from the dangers of the war then existing between the French and English. 

In 1773, when Captain Thomas Bullitt and the McAfee brothers passed 
there, houses were still standing on the Kentucky side. 

Captain Thomas Hutchins, in his Topographical Description of Virginia, 
&c. , London, 1778, who was here in June, 1766, with Gordon, says that 
the only Indian town then on the Ohio below Fort Pitt was the Mingo 
town twenty miles below that place. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 29 

Town is situate upon both Sides of the River Ohio, just 
below the Mouth of Sciodee Creek, and contains about 
300 Men, there are about 40 Houses on the S Side of 
the River and about 100 on the N Side, with a kind of 
State-House of about 90 Feet long with a hght Cover of 
Bark in wch they hold their Councils — The Shanaws 
are not a part of the six Nations, but were formerly at 
Variance with them, tho now reconciled : they are great 
Friends to the English who once protected them from the 
Fury of the six Nations, which they gratefully remember. 
Wednesday 30. — We were conducted into Council, 
where George Croghan delivered Sundry Speeches from 
the Governor of Pennsylvania to the Chiefs of this 
Nation, in which he informed them, "That two Prisoners 
who had been taken by the French, and had made their 
Escape from the French Officer at Lake Erie as he was 
carrying them towards Canada brought News that the 
French offered a large Sum of Money to any Person 
who would bring to them the said Croghan and Andrew 
Montour the Interpreter ahve, or if dead their Scalps ; 
and that the French also threatened those Indians and 
Wyendotts with War in the Spring" the same Persons 
farther said ' ' that they had seen ten French Canoes 
loaded with Stores for a new Fort they designed on 
the S Side Lake Erie." Mr Croghan also informed 



130 Journal of Christopher Gist. 

them of several of our Traders having been taken, and 
advised them to keep their Warriors at Home, until they 
could see what the French intended which he doubted 
not woud appear in the Spring — Then Andrew Montour 
informed this Nation as He had done the Wyendotts & 
Delawares ' ' That the King of Great Britain had sent 
Them a large Present of Goods, in Company with the 
six Nations, which was under the Care of the Governor 
of Virginia, who had sent Me out to invite them to come to 
see Him, & partake of their Father's Present next Sum- 
mer" to which We received this Answer — Big Hannaona 
their Speaker taking in his Hand the several Strings of 
Wampum which had been given by the English, He said 
"These are the Speeches received by Us from your great 
Men : From the Beginning of our Friendship, all that our 
Brothers the English have told Us has been made good and 
true, for which We return our hearty Thanks " Then taking 
up four other Strings of Wampum in his Hand, He said 
Brothers I now speak the Sentiments of all our People ; 
when first our Forefathers did meet the English our 
Brothers, they found what the English told them to be 
true, and so have We — We are but a small People, & 
it is not to Us only that You speak, but to all Nations — 
We shall be glad to hear what our Brothers will say 
to Us at the Loggs Town in the Spring, & We hope 



younial of Christopher Gist. 1 3 1 

that the Friendship now subsisting between us & our 
Brothers, will last as long as the Sun shines, or the Moon 
gives Light — We hope that our Children will hear and 
believe what our Brothers say to them, as We have 
always done, and to assure You of our hearty Good- Will 
towards You our Brothers, We present You with these 
four Strings of Wampum." After the Council was over 
they had much Talk about sending a Guard up with us 
to the Pickwaylinees Towns (these are a Tribe of the Twig- 
twees) which was reckoned 200 Miles, but after long 
Consultation (their King being sick) they came to no 
Determination about it. 

From Thursday Jan 31 to Monday Feby 11. — Stayed 
in the Shannoah Town, while I was here the Indians had 
a very extraordinary Festival, at which I was present 
and which I have exactly described at the End of my 
Journal — As I had particular Instruction from the Pres- 
ident of Virginia to discover the Strength & Numbers of 
some Indian Nations to the Westward of the Ohio who 
had lately revolted from the French, and had some Mes- 
sages to deliver them from Him, I resolved to set out for 
the Twigtwee Town. 

Tuesday 12. Having left my Boy' to take Care of 

' This was his negro servant, about seventeen years old, with whom 
he started alone on his trip from Will's Creek, October 31, 1750, and who 
was his sole companion on his trip through Kentucky until he arrived at 
his home in North Carolina, May 19, 1751. 



132 yotirnal of Cliristophcr Gist. 

my Horses in the Shannoah Town, & supplied myself 
with a fresh Horse to ride, I set out with my old Company 
Viz George Croghan, Andrew Montour, Robert Kallander, 
and a Servant to carry our Provisions &c N W lo M. 

Wednesday 13. — The same Course (N W) about 35 M. 

Thursday 14. — The same Course about 30 M. 

Friday 15. — The same Course 15 M. We met with 
nine Shannoah Indians coming from one of the Pickway- 
linees Towns, where they had been to Council, They 
told Us there were fifteen more of them behind at the 
Twigtwee Town, waiting for the arrival of the Wawaugh- 
tanneys, who are a Tribe of the Twigtwees, and were to 
bring with them a Shannoah Woman and Child to deliver 
them to their men who were behind : this Woman they 
informed Us had been taken Prisoner last Fall, by some 
of the Wawaughtanney Warriors thro a Mistake, which 
had liked to have engaged these Nations in a War. 

Saturday 16. — Set out the same Course (N W) 35 M, 
to the little Miami River or Creek. 

Sunday 1 7. — Crossed the little Miamee River, and 
altering our Course We went S W 25 M, to the big Miamee 
River, opposite the Twigtee Town.' All the Way from 

'The Twigtee town was on the west bank of the Great Miami, at 
the mouth of Laramie's Creek, two and a half miles north of Piqua, 
Miami County. Laramie's store, burned by George Rogers Clark in his 
campaign of 1780, was fourteen miles farther north. 



yournal of Christophey Gist. 133 

the Shannoah Town to this Place (except the first 20 M 
which is broken) is fine, rich level Land, well timbered 
with large Walnut, Ash, Sugar Trees, Cherry Trees, &c, it 
is well watered with a great Number of little Streams or 
Rivulets, and full of beautiful natural Meadows, covered 
with wild Rye, blue grass' and Clover, and abounds with 
Turkeys Deer, Elks and most sorts of Game particularly 
Buffaloes, thirty or forty of which are frequently seen 
feeding in one Meadow : In short it wants nothing but 
Cultivation to make it a most delightfull Country — The 
Ohio and all the large Branches are said to be full of fine 
Fish of several Kinds, particularly a Sort of Cat Fish of 
a prodigious Size ; but as I was not there at a proper 
season, I had not the opportunity of seeing any of them — 
The Traders had always reckoned it 200 M. from the 
Shannoah Town to the Twigtwee Town, but by my com- 
putation I could make it not more than 150 — The Miamee 
River being high. We were obliged to make a Raft of old 
Loggs to transport our Goods and Saddles and swim our 

'This is the earliest mention of blue grass {Poa pratensis) in the West 
of which I have any knowledge. Filson, in his Life of Boone, speaks of 
it as in Kentucky in 1784. By many it is thought to have originated in 
Kentucky, but this is an error, though it is doubtless indigenous in the 
limestone soils of this latitude. Sir Joseph Paxton, an eminent English 
botanist, in his Botanical Dictionary, page 250, London, 1846, says it is a 
native of England. The fact that the early Virginians recognized it in the 
Ohio Valley shows that they were familiar with it at home. The wild rye 
is a tall grass, and a species of the genus Elymus. 



134 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Horses over — After firing a few Guns and Pistols, & 
smoking in the Warriours Pipe, who came to invite Us to 
the Town (according to the Custom of inviting and wel- 
coming Strangers and Great Men) We entered the Town 
with the English Colours before Us, and were kindly 
received by their King, who invited Us into his own 
House, & set our Colours upon the Top of it — The Firing 
of Guns held about a Quarter of an Hour, and then all 
the white Men and Traders that were there, came and 
welcomed Us to the Twigtwee Town — This Town is 
situate on the NW Side of the Big Miamee River' and 
about 1 50 M from the Mouth thereof ; it consists of about 
400 Families, & daily encreasing, it is one of the strongest 
Towns upon this Part of the Continent — The Twigtwees' 

' The Great Miami River was first known as Rock River, called by 
the French Riviere de la Roche, from its rocky bed. When the Miami 
Nation emigrated to it from the Wabash, it took their name. Its head 
approaches near that of the Maumee, which empties into Lake Erie, and 
was the original Miami, but changed by the whites to avoid confusion. 
The two rivers, with a portage between their waters, was one of the 
principal canoe routes between the Ohio and the lake. It was that by 
which Celeron went from the Ohio to Detroit. 

^ The Twigtees were Miamis, of which nation the Pickwaylinees and 
Pyankeshees, later mentioned, were also tribes. They were once a very 
powerful nation, and claimed to have held the land between the Scioto 
and the Wabash, from the Ohio to the lakes, beyond the memory of man. 
They were the only Northern Indians who had not at some time been subdued 
by the Six Nations, and had so harassed them when they had extended their 
conquest of other nations to the Mississippi that they had to rehnquish 
their hold there and restrict themselves to their former limits. They had 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 135 

are a very numerous People consisting of many different 
Tribes under the same Form of Government. Each tribe 
has a particular Chief or King, one of which is chosen 
indifferently out of any Tribe to rule the whole Nation, 
and is vested with greater Authorities than any of the 
others — They are accounted the most powerful People 
to the Westward of the English Settlements, & much 
superior to the Six Nations with whom they are now in 
Amity : their Strength and Numbers are not thoroughly 
known, as they have but lately traded with the English, 
and indeed have very little Trade among them : They deal 
in much the same Commodities with the Northern Indians. 
There are other Nations or Tribes still further to the West- 
ward daily coming in to them, & 'tis thought their Power 
and Interest reaches to the Westward of the Mississippi, if 
not across the Continent ; they are at present very well 
affected to the English, and seem fond of an Alliance with 
them — they formerly lived on the other side of the Obache, 
and were in the French Interest, who supplied them with 

been faithful allies to the French from their first appearance on the lakes, 
and equally persistent enemies of the English, until a few years prior to this 
time, when they had changed their allegiance, moved from the Wabash to the 
Miami, and become friendly to the English. For this and in retaliation 
for their treaty with Croghan and Gist, the French waged a destructive 
war against them, taking their fort and burning their villages in 1752. 
Subsequently they submitted to the French, and with the Shawnees took 
sides with them in the Seven Years' War with England. 



136 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

some few Trifles at a most exorbitant Price — they were 
called by the French Miamees ; but they have now revolted 
from them, and left their former Habitations for the Sake 
of trading with the English ; and notwithstanding all the 
Artifices the French have used, they have not been able 
to recall them. 

After we had been some Time in the King's House 
Mr Montour told Him that We wanted to speak with 
Him and the Chiefs of this Nation this Evening upon 
which We were invited into the long House, and having 
taken our Places Mr Montour began as follows — "Brothers 
the Twigtwees as we have been hindered by the high 
Waters and some other Business with our Indian Brothers, 
no doubt our long Stay has caused some Trouble among 
our Brethren here, Therefore We now present you with 
two Strings of Wampum to remove all the Trouble from 
your Hearts, & clear your Eyes, that you may see the 
Sun shine clear, for We have a great Deal to say to You, 
& We woud have You send for one of Your Friends who 
can speak the Mohickon or the Mingoe Tongues well, 
that we may understand each other thoroughly, for We 
have a great Deal of Business to do" — The Mohickons a 
small Tribe who most of them speak English and are 
also well acquainted with the Language of the Twigtwees, 
and they theirs — Mr Montour then proceeded to deliver 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 137 

them a message from the Wyendotts and Delawares as 
follows ' ' Brothers the Twigtwees, this Comes by Brothers 
the English who are coming with good news to You : We 
hope You will take good Care of Them, and all our 
Brothers the English who are trading among You : You 
made a road for our Brothers the English to come and 
trade among You, but it is now very foul, great Loggs 
have fallen across it, and We would have You be strong 
like Men, and have one Heart with Us — In the Sincerity 
of our Hearts We send You these four Strings of Wam- 
pum," to which they gave the usual Yo Ho — Then they 
said they wanted some Tobacco to speak with Us, and 
that tomorrow they would send for their Interpreter. 

Monday Febr 18. — We walked about viewed the Fort 
which wanted some Repairs, & the Trader's Men helped 
them to bring Loggs to line the Inside. 

Tuesday 19. — We gave their Kings and great Men 
some Clothes, and Paint Shirts, and now they were busy 
dressing and preparing themselves for the Council — The 
Weather grew warm and the Creeks began to lower very 
fast. 

Wednesday 20. — About 1 2 of the Clock We were 
informed that some of the foreign Tribes were coming, upon 
which proper Persons were ordered to meet them and con- 
duct Them into the Town, and then We were invited 



1 38 younial of Christopher Gist. 

into the long House ; and after we had been seated about 
a Quarter of an Hour four Indians, two from each Tribe 
(who had been sent before to bring the long Pipe, and 
to inform that the rest were Coming came in, & informed 
Us that their Friends had sent these Pipes that We might 
Smoak the Calumet Pipe of Peace with Them and that 
they intended to do the same with Us. 

Thursday Feby 21. — We were again invited into the 
long House where Mr Croghan made them (with the 
foreign Tribes) a present of the value of ^100 Pennsyl- 
vania Money, and delivered all our Speeches to Them, 
at which they seemed well pleased, and said, that they 
would take time and consider well what we had said to 
Them. 

Friday 22. — Nothing remarkable happened in the 
Town. 

Saturday 23. — In the Afternoon there was an Alarm 
in the Town which caused a great Confusion and running 
about among the Indians, upon enquiring into the Reason 
of this Stir, they told us it was occasioned by six Indians 
that came to war against them, from the Southward : 
three of them Cutaways,' and three Shanaws (these were 

' Cutaways, also Cuttawas and Kuttawas, of Kentucky, from whom the 
Kentucky River took its Indian name ; although within the memory of the 
whites there were none of the tribe in that State. The reference here is to 
the Catawbas, which was another rendering of the same name, who at this time 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 139 

some of the Shanaws who had formerly deserted from 
the other Part of the Nation, and now Hve to the South- 
ward.) Towards Night there was a report spread in 
Town that four Indians, and four hundred French, were 
on their March and just by the Town : But soon after 
the Messenger who brought this Report said, there were 
only four French Indians coming to Council, and that 
they bid him say so, only to see how the English woud 
behave themselves ; but as they had behaved themselves 
like Men, He now told the Truth. 

Sunday 24. — This Morning the four French Indians 
came into the Town and were kindly received by the 
Town Indians ; they marched in under French Colours, 
and were conducted into the long House, and after they 

lived in the northern part of South Carolina and Georgia. They were a 
crafty and warlike nation, who had aided the Cherokees io driving the 
Shawnees from Kentucky. From that time there had existed a relentless 
warfare between these nation, their common warpath being up the Tug fork 
of the Big Sandy to the New River, and thence southward up that stream 
into North Carolina. The Catawbas generally were the victors, inspiring 
their enemies with great alarm at the very report of an incursion, from a 
peculiar mode of warfare described by Captain James Smith as practiced 
against the Shawnees, of whom he was a captive, in an incursion made into 
their territory in Ohio in 1755. They advanced stealthily into the neighbor- 
hood of their villages and placed in the trails or paths sharpened canes tipped 
with the poison of the rattlesnake. Then attracting the attention of the 
Shawnees they retreated so as to draw them after them in pursuit, when the 
poisoned canes would prick the feet of their enemies and inflict fatal wounds. 
This is precisely the stratagem described by Stanley in Darkest Africa as 
practiced by the Dwarfs who live near the Mountains of the Moon. 



I40 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

had been in about a Quarter of an Hour, the Council 
sate, and we were sent for that we might hear what the 
French had to say to them — The Pyankeshee King (who 
was at that time the principal Man, and Comander in 
Chief of the Twigtwees) said. He woud have the English 
Colours set up in this Council as well as the French, to 
which We answered he might do as he thought fit. After 
We were seated right opposite to the French Ambassa- 
dors, one of Them said. He had a Present to make Them, 
so a Place was prepared { as they had before done for 
our Present) between Them and Us, and then their 
Speaker stood up, and laid his Hands upon two small 
Caggs of Brandy that held about seven Quarts each, and 
a Roll of Tobacco of about ten Pounds Weight, then 
taking two strings of Wampum in his Hand, He said, 
' ' What he had to deliver Them was from their Father 
(meaning the French King) and then he desired they 
woud hear what he was about to say to Them ; " then 
he layed them two Strings of Wampum down upon the 
Caggs, and taking up four other Strings of black and 
white Wampum, he said, ' ' that their Father remember- 
ing his Children, had sent them two Caggs of Milk, and 
some Tobacco, and that he now had made a clear Road 
for them, to come to see Him and his Officers ; and 
pressed them very much to come;" then he took another 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 141 

String of Wampum in his Hand, and said, ' ' their Father 
now woud forget all little Differences that had been between 
Them, and desired Them not to be of two Minds, but to 
let him know their Minds freely, for he woud send for 
Them no more " — To which the Pyankeshee King replyed, 
"it was true their Father had sent for Them several 
Times, and said the Road was clear, but He understood 
it was made foul & bloody, and by Them — We ( said 
He) have cleared a road for our Brothers the English, 
and your Fathers have made it bad, and have taken 
some of our Brothers Prisoners, which We look upon as 
done to Us, and he turned short about and went out of 
Council " — After the French Embassador had delivered 
his Message He went into one of the private Houses and 
endeavored much to prevail on some Indians, and was 
seen to cry and lament (as he said for the loss of that 
Nation.) 

Monday Feby 25. — This Day We received a Speech 
from the Wawaughtanneys and Pyankeshees (two Tribes 
of the Twigtwees) One of the Chiefs of the former spoke 
' ' Brothers we have heard what you have said to Us by 
the Interpreter and We see You take Pity upon our poor 
Wives and Children, and have taken us by the Hand into 
the great Chain of Friendship ; therefore we present you 
with these two Bundles of Skins to make Shoes for your 



142 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

People, and this Pipe to smoak in, to assure you that our 
Hearts are good and true towards You our Brothers ; and 
We hope that We shall all continue in true Love and 
Friendship with one another, as People with one Head and 
one Heart ought to do ; You have pityed Us as you always 
did the rest of our Indian Brothers, We hope that Pity 
you have always shewn, will remain as long as the Sun 
gives Light, and on our Side you may depend upon 
sincere and true Friendship towards You as long as We 
have Strength" — This Person stood up and spoke with 
the Air and Gesture of an Orator. 

Tuesday 26. — The Twigtwees delivered the following 
Answer to the four Indians sent by the French — The 
Captain of the Warriors stood up and taking some Strings 
of Wampum in his Hand he spoke with a fierce Tone 
and very warlike Air — "Brothers the Ottaways, You are 
always differing with the French Yourselves, and yet you 
listen to what they say, but we will let you know by these 
four strings of Wampum, that we will not hear any Thing 
they say to Us, nor do any Thing they bid us" — Then 
the same Speaker with six Stronds two Match-Coats, and 
a String of black Wampum (I understood the Goods were 
in Return for the Milk and Tobacco) and directing his 
Speech to the French said, ' ' Fathers, You desire that We 
may speak our Minds from our Hearts, which I am going to 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 143 

do ; You have often desired We should go Home to You, 
but I tell you it is not our Home, for we have made a 
road as far as the Sea to the Sun-rising, and have been 
taken by the Hand by our Brothers the English, and 
the six Nations, and the Delawares Shannoahs and Wyen- 
dotts, and We assure You it is the Road we shall go ; 
and as You threaten Us with War in the Spring, We tell 
You if You are angry we are ready to receive You, and 
resolve to die here before we will go to You ; And that 
You ma}^ know that this our Mind, We send You this 
String of black Wampum." After a short Pause the 
same Speaker spoke again thus — "Brothers the Ottaways, 
You hear what I say, tell that to your Fathers the French, 
for that is our Mind, and We speak it from our Hearts." 

Wednesday 27. — This day they took down their French 
Colours, and dismissed the four French Indians, so they 
took their leave of the Town and set off for the French 
Fort.' 

Thursday 28. — The Crier of the Town came by the 
Kings Order and invited us to the long House to see the 
Warriors Feather Dance ; it was performed by three 
Dancing-Masters, who were painted all over with various 
Colours, with long Sticks in their Hands, upon the Ends 
of which were fastened long Feathers of Swans, and other 

'This was Fort Miami, the present site of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 



144 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Birds, neatly woven in the Shape of a Fowls Wing : in 
this Disguise they performed many antick Tricks, waving 
their Sticks and Feathers about with great Skill to imitate 
the flying and fluttering of Birds, keeping exact time 
with their Musick ; while they are dancing some of the 
Warriors strike a Post, upon which the Musick and Dancers 
cease, and the Warrior gives an Account of his Achieve- 
ments in War, and when he has done, throws down some 
Goods as a Recompence to the Performers and Musicians ; 
after which they proceed in their Dance as before till 
another Warrior strikes ye Post, and so on as long as 
the Company think fit. 

Friday March i. — We received the following Speech 
from the Twigtwees the Speaker stood up and addressing 
himself as to the Governor of Pennsylvania with two 
Strings of Wampum in his Hand, He said, ' ' Brothers our 
hearts are glad that you have taken Notice of Us, and 
surely Brothers We hope that you will order a Smith to 
settle here to mend our Guns and Hatchets, Your Kindness 
makes us so bold as to ask this Request. You told Us 
our Friendship should last as long as the greatest Moun- 
tain, We have considered well, and all our great Kings 
& Warriors have come to a Resolution never to give 
Heed to what the French say to Us, but always to hear 
& believe what you our Brothers say to Us — Brothers 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 145 

We are obliged to You for your kind Invitation to receive 
a Present at the Loggs Town, but as our foreign Tribes 
are not yet come, We must wait for them, but You may 
depend We will come as soon as our Women have Corn 
to hear what our Brothers will say to Us — Brothers We 
present You with this Bundle of Skins, as we are but 
poor to be for Shoes for You on the Road, and we return 
Your our hearty Thanks for the Clothes which You have 
put upon our Wives and Children." We then took our 
Leave of the King and Chiefs, and they ordered that a 
small party of Indians shoud go with us as far as Hock- 
hockin ; but as I had left my Boy and Horses at the 
lower Shannoah Town, I was obliged to go by myself or 
to go sixty or seventy Miles out of my way, which I did 
not care to do ; so we all came over the Miamee River 
together this Evening, but Mr Croghan & Mr Montour 
went over again and lodged in the Town, but I stayed 
on this Side at one Robert Smiths (a Trader) where we 
had left our Horses — Before the French Indians had come 
into Town, We had drawn Articles of Peace and Alliance 
between the English and the Wawaughtanneys and Pyan- 
keshees ; the Indentures were signed selad and delivered 
on both Sides, and as I drew took a Copy — The Land 
upon the great Miamee River is very rich level and well 
timbered, some of the finest Meadows that can be : The 



146 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Indians and Traders assure Me that the Land holds as 
good and if possible better, to the Westward as far as the 
Obache which is accounted 100 Miles, and quite up to 
the Head of the Miamee River, which is 60 miles above 
the Twigtwee Town, and down the said River quite to 
the Ohio which is reckoned 150 Miles — The Grass here 
grows to a great Height in the clear Fields, of which 
there are a great Number, & the Bottoms are full of 
white Clover wild Rye, and blue Grass. 

Saturday March 2. — George Croghan and the rest of 
our Company came over the River, We got our Horses 
& set out about 35 M. to Mad Creek' (this is a Place 
where some English Traders had been taken Prisoners 
by the French.) 

Sunday 3. — This Morning we parted. They for Hock- 
hockin, and I for the Shannoah Town, and as I was quite 
alone and knew that the French Indians had threatened 
Us, I left the Path, and went to the South Westward 
down the little Miamee River or Creek, where I had fine 
traveling thro rich Land and beautiful Meadows, in which 
I coud sometimes see forty or fifty Buffaloes feeding at 
once — The httle Miamee River or Creek continued to run 
the Middle of a fine Meadow, about a Mile wide very 

' This place is a point five miles west of Springfield, Clarke County, 
Ohio, the site of the noted Shawnee town Piqua, destroyed by George 
Rogers Clark in 1780. It is said to have been the birthplace of Tecumseh. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 147 

Clear like an old Field, and not a Bush in it, I coud see 
the Buffaloes in it above two Miles off. I travelled this 
day about 30 M. 

Monday 4. — This day I heard several Guns, but was 
afraid to examine who fired Them, lest they might be 
some of the French Indians, so I travelled thro the Woods 
about 30 M ; just at night I killed a fine barren Cow- 
Buffaloe and took out her tongue and a little of her best 
Meat : The land still level rich and well timbered with 
Oak, Walnut, Ash, Locust, and Sugar Trees. 

Tuesday 5. — I travelled about 30 M. 

Wednesday 6. — I travelled about 30 M, and killed a 
fat Bear. 

Thursday 7. — Set out with my Horse load of Bear 
and travelled about 30 M this afternoon I met a young 
Man (a Trader) and we encamped together that Night ; 
He happened to have some Bread with him, and I had 
plenty of Meat, so We fared very well. 

Friday 8. — Travelled about 30 M, and arrived at Night 
at the Shannoah Town — All the Indians, as well as the 
White Men came out to welcome my Return to their Town, 
being very glad that all things were rightly settled in the 
Miamee Country, they fired upwards of 150 Guns in the 
Town and made an Entertainment in Honour of the 
late Peace with the Western Indians — In my Return 



148 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

from the Twigtwee to the Shannoah Town, I did not 
keep an exact Account of Course or Distance ; for as the 
Land thereabouts was every where much the same, and 
the Situation of the Country was sufficiently described 
in my Journey to the Twigtwee Town, I thought it unnec- 
essary, but have notwithstanding laid down ni}- Tract 
pretty nearly in my Plat. 

Saturday March 9. — In the Shannoah Town," I met 
with one of the Mingoe"" Chiefs, who had been down to 
the Falls 3 of the Ohio, so that We did not see Him as 
We went up ; I informed him of the King's Present, 
and the Invitation down to Virginia — He told that there 
was a Party of French Indians hunting at the Falls, and 
if I went there they would certainly kill Me or carry Me 
away Prisoner to the French ; For it is certain they 
would not let Me pass : However as I had a great Incli- 
nation to see the Falls, and the Land on the E Side the 
Ohio, I resolved to venture as far as possible. 

'This was the same town at which Gist and Croghan had arrived 
January 29th, and treated of in foot-note of that date. 

^ While the word Mingo was applied to all the Iroquois or Six Nations, 
it applied locally and in this instance to the Delawares who lived on the 
Muskingum and westward in close amity with the Shawnees, and who 
became the most deadly and daring foes of the settlers in Kentucky. The 
celebrated Logan was called the Mingo Chief. 

3 Captain Harry Gordon gave two hundred and sixteen miles as the 
distance from the mouth of the Scioto to the Falls, the Government survey 
two hundred and forty-five and a half. 



yountal of Christopher Gist. 149 

Sunday 10 & Monday 11. — Stayed in the Town, and 
prepared for my Departure. 

Tuesday 12. — I got my Horses over the River and 
after Breakfast my Boy and I got ferryed over — The 
Ohio is near ^ of a Mile wide at Shannoah Town, & is 
very deep and smooth. 

Wednesday 13. — ^We set out S 45 W, down the said 
River on the SE Side 8 M, then S 10 M, here I met 
two Men belonging to Robert Smith at whose House I 
lodged on this Side the Miamee River, and one Hugh 
Crawford,' the said Robert Smith had given Me an Order 
upon these Men, for Two of the Teeth of a large Beast, 
which they were bringing from towards the Falls of the 
Ohio, one of which I brought in and delivered to the 
Ohio Company — Robert Smith informed Me that about 
seven Years ago these Teeth and Bones of three large 
Beasts (one of which was somewhat smaller than the 
other two) were found in a Salt Lick"^ or Spring upon a 
small Creek which runs into the S Side of the Ohio 
about 15 M, below the Mouth of the great Miamee River, 

' Hugh Crawford was a well-known Indian trader from Pennsylvania. 
He served in the French and Indian War as ensign, and in Forbes' Cam- 
paign, which resulted in the capture of Fort Pitt, was with Washington, 
whose confidence he enjoyed. He was an interpreter to the commission 
which ran the western part of Mason's and Dixon's line in 1767, and died 
in 1770. He was one of the witnesses to the treaty of Logstown, June 
27, 1752. 

''Big Bone Lick. See Appendix B. 



150 Journal of Cliristopher Gist. 

and 20 above the Falls — He assured me that the Rib 
Bones of the largest of these Beasts were eleven Feet 
long, and the Skull Bone six Feet wide, across the Fore- 
head, & the other Bones in Proportion ; and that there 
were several Teeth there, some of which he called Horns, 
and said they were upwards of five Feet long, and as 
much as a Man coud well carry : that he had hid one in 
a Branch at some Distance from the Place, lest the French 
Indians should carry it away — The Tooth which I brought 
in for the Ohio Company, was a Jaw Tooth of better 
than four Pounds Weight ; it appeared to be the furthest 
Tooth in the Jaw, and looked like fine Ivory when the 
outside was scraped off — I also met four Shannoah 
Indians coming up the River in their Canoes, who informed 
me there were about Sixty French Indians encamped at 
the Falls. 

Thursday 14. — I went down the River S 15 M, the 
Land upon this Side the Ohio chiefly broken, and the 
Bottoms but narrow. 

Friday 15. — S 5 M, S W 10 M, to a Creek that was 
so high that We coud not get over that Night. 

Saturday 16. — S. 45 W about 35 M. 

Sunday 17. — The Same Course 15 M, then N 45 W 5 M. 

Monday 18. — N 45 W 5 M then S. W. 20 M, to the 
lower Salt Lick Creek,' which Robert Smith and the 

' Licking River. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 1 5 1 

Indians told us was about 15 M above the Falls of the 
Ohio ; the Land still hilly, the Salt Lick here much the 
same with those before described — this Day we heard 
Guns which made me imagine the French Indians were 
not moved, but were still hunting, and firing thereabouts : 
We also saw some Traps newly set, and the footsteps 
of some Indians plain on the Ground as if they had been 
there the day before — I was now much troubled that I 
could not comply with my instructions, & was once re- 
solved to leave the Boy and Horses, and to go privately 
on Foot to view the Falls ; but the Boy being a poor 
Hunter, was afraid he woud starve if I was long from 
him, and there was also great danger lest the French 
Indians shoud come upon our Horses Tracks, or hear 
their Bells, and as I had seen good Land enough, I 
thought perhaps I might be blamed for venturing so far, 
in such dangerous Times, so I concluded not to go to 
the Falls but travell'd away to the Southward till We 
were over the little Cuttaway River — The Falls of Ohio 
by the best Information I coud get are not very steep, 
on S E Side there is a Bar of Land at some Distance 
from the Shore, the Water between the Bar and the 
Shore is not above 3 feet deep, and the Stream moder- 
ately strong, the Indians frequently pass safely in their 
Canoes thro this Passage, but are obliged to take 



152 yourtml of Christopher Gist. 

great Care as they go down lest the Current which is 
much the strongest on the N W Side shoud draw them 
that Way ; which woud be very dangerous as the Water 
on that Side runs with great Rapidity over several Ledges 
of Rocks ; the Water below the Falls they say is about 
six Fathoms deep, and the River continues without any 
Obstructions till it empties itself into the Mississippi 
which is accounted upwards of 400 M — The Ohio near 
the Mouth is said to be very wide, and the Land upon 
both Sides very rich, and in general very level, all the 
way from the Falls — After I had determined not to go 
to the Falls, We turned from Salt Lick Creek to a Ridge 
of Mountains that made towards the Cuttaway River, & 
from the Top of the Mountain we Saw a fine level coun- 
try S W as far as our Eyes coud behold, and it was a 
very clear Day ; We then went down the Mountain and 
set out S 20 W about 5 M, thro rich level Land covered 
with small Walnut Sugar Trees, Red - Buds &c. 

Tuesday March 19. — We set out S and crossed 
several Creeks running to the S W, at about 12 M, came 
to the little Cuttaway River : We were obliged to go 
up it about I M to an Island, which was the Shoalest 
place we could find to cross at, We then continued pur 
Course in all about 30 M through level rich Land except 
about 2 M which was broken and indifferent. This 



yotirnal of Christopher Gist. 153 

Level is about 35 M broad and as we came up the Side 
of it along the Branches of the little Cuttaway We found 
it about 150 M long; and how far toward the S W We 
coud not tell, but imagined it held as far as the great 
Cuttaway River, which woud be upwards of icxd M more, 
and appeared much broader that Way than here, as I 
coud discern from the Top of the Mountains. 

Wednesday 20. — We did not travel, I went up to the 
Top of a Mountain to view the Country, to the S E it 
looked Very broken, and mountainous but to the Eastward 
and S W it appeared very level. 

Thursday 21. — Set out S 45 E 15 M, S 5 M, here I 
found a Place where the Stones shined like high Coloured 
Brass," the Heat of the Sun drew out of them a kind of 
Borax or Salt Petre only something sweeter ; some of 
which I brought into the Ohio Company, tho I believe it 
was nothing but a Sort of Sulphur. 

Friday 22. — S E 12 M, I killed a fat Bear and was 
taken sick that Night. 

' This was doubtless iron pyrites found in the Devonian black shale. 
The elevation from which he viewed the country the day before was prob- 
ably Pilot Knob, a few miles northwest of Clay City, Powell County, from 
which the views correspond to his description. The geographical forma- 
tion also favors the hypothesis. Pilot Knob is thus referred to in John 
Filson's ' ' Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucky, " London, 
1793, Appendix, page 35, quoting Boone: "On the seventh day of June 
(1769) we found ourselves on Red River, where John Finlay had formerly 
been trading with the Indians, and from the top of an eminence saw with 
pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky." 

23 



154 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Saturday 23. — I stayed here, and sweated after the 
Indian Fashion, which helped Me. 

Sunday 24. — Set out E 2 M, N E 3 M, N i M, E 2 
M, S E 5 M, N 2 M, S. E. 7 M to a small Creek where 
We encamped in a Place where we had poor Food for 
our Horses, & both we and they were very much Wear- 
ied : the Reason for our making so many short Courses 
was. We were driven by a Branch of the little Cuttaway 
River (whose Banks were so exceedingly steep that it 
was impossible to ford it) into a ledge of rocky Laurel 
Mountains which were almost impassible. 

Monday 25.— Set out S E 10 M, S W i M, S E 
iM, SW iMSEiM, SWiM, SEiMSW 
I M S E 5 M killed 2 Buffaloes & took out their 
tongues and encamped — These two days we travelled 
thro Rocks and Mountains full of Laurel Thickets which 
we could hardly creep thro without cutting our Way." 

Wednesday 27. — Our Horses and Selves were so tired 
that We were obliged to stay this Day to rest, for We 
were unable to travel — On all Branches of the little 
Cuttaway River was Plenty of Coal some of which I 
brought in to the Ohio Company. 

' Upon my theory that he passed during these days from the waters 
of Red River to those of the North Fork of the Kentucky River, he 
would have encountered the rough country and laurel thickets described, 
and also coal in Wolfe and Breathitt counties then and afterward. There 
is no laurel (^Rhododendron tnaxitntun) west of this point. 



yoiirnal of Christopher Gist. 155 

Thursday 28. — Set out S E 15 M crossing Creeks of 
the httle Cuttaway River the Land being still full of Coal 
and black Slate. 

Friday 29. — The same Course S E about 12 M the 
Land still mountainous. 

Saturday 30. — Stayed to rest our Horses, I went on 
Foot, and found a passage thro the Mountains to another 
Creek, or a Fork of the same Creek that We were upon. 

Sunday 31. — The same Course S E 15 M, killed a 
Buffaloe & encamped. 

Monday April i. — Set out the same Course about 20 
M. Part of the Way we went along a Path up the Side 
of a little Creek, at the Head of which was a Gap in the 
Mountains, then our Path went down another Creek to a 
Lick where Blocks of Coal about 8 to 10 In : square lay 
upon the Surface of the Ground, here we killed a Bear 
and encamped. 

Tuesday 2.— Set out S 2 M, S E i M, N E 3 M, 
killed a Buffaloe. 

Wednesday 3.— S i M, S W 3 M, E 3 M, S E 2 M, 
to a small Creek on which was a large Warriors Camp, 
that woud contain 70 or 80 Warriors, their Captain's 
Name or Title was the Crane, as I knew by his picture 
or Arms ' painted on a Tree. 

' This was the custom of the Indians, and the presence of the chief's 
arms indicated that it was a war and not a hunting party. 



156 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

Thursday 4. — We stayed here all Day to rest our 
Horses, and I platted down our Courses and I found I 
had still near 200 M Home upon a Streight Line. 

Friday April 5. — Rained, and We Stayed at the 
Warrior's Camp. 

Saturday 6. — We went along the Warrior's Road 
S I M, S E 3 M, S 2 M, S E 3 M, E 3 M, killed a 
Bear. 

Sunday 7.— Set out E 2 M, N E i M, S E i M, 
S I M, W I M, S W I M, S I M, S E 2 M, S I M. 

Monday 8.— S i M, S E i M, E 3 M, S E i M, E 
3 M, N E 2 M, N I M, E i M, N i M, E 2 M and 
encamped upon a small Laurel Creek. 

Tuesday 9 & Wednesday 10. — The Weather being 
Somewhat bad We did not travel these two Days, the 
Country being still rocky mountainous & full of Laurel 
Thickets, the worst travelling I ever saw. 

Thursday 11. — We travelled several Courses near 20 
M, but in the Afternoon as I could see from the Top 
of the Mountain the Place We came from, I found 
We had not come upon a streight line more than N 65 
E 10 M. 

Friday 12. — Set out thro very difficult Ways E 5 M, 
to a small Creek. 

Saturday 13. — The same Course E upon a streight 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 157 

Line, tho the Way We were obliged to travel was near 
20 M, here We killed two Bears, the Way still rocky 
and Mountainous. 

Sunday 14. — As Food was very scarce on these bar- 
ren Mountains, We were obliged to move for fresh Feed- 
ing for our Horses, so We went on E 5 M, then N 20 
W 6 M, to a Creek where We got something better 
Feeding for our Horses, in climbing up the Clifts and 
Rocks this Day two of our Horses fell down, and were 
pretty much hurt, and a Paroquete, ' which I had got 
from the Indians, on the other Side the Ohio ( where there 
are a great many) died of a Bruise he got by a Fall ; 
tho it was but a Trifle I was much concerned at losing 
Him, as he was perfectly tame, and had been very brisk 
all the Way, and I had still Corn enough left to feed 
Him — In the afternoon I left the Horses, and went a 
little Way down the Creek and found such a Precipice 
and such Laurel Thickets as we coud not pass, and the 
Horses were not able to go up the Mountain till they 
had rested a Day or two. 

Monday 15. — We cut a Passage through the Laurels 
better than 2 M, as I was climbing up the Rocks, I got 

'The Carolina paroquet (G7«!/r«^ Carolinensis), a small parrot which 
was to be seen in Kentucky within the memory of men living, but now 
extinct. The Paroquet Springs, in Bullitt County, Kentucky, took their 
name from them. 



158 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

a Fall which hurted me pretty much — This Afternoon as 
We wanted Provision I killed a Bear. 

Tuesday 16. — Thunder and Rain in the Morning — 
We set out N 25 E 3 M. 

Wednesday 17. — This Day I went to the Top of a 
Mountain to view the way, and found it so bad that I 
did not care to engage it, but rather chose to go out of 
the Way and keep down along the Side of a Creek till I 
could find a Branch or Run on the other Side to go up. 

Thursday 18. — Set out down the said Creek Side N 
3 M, then the Creek turning N W I was obliged to leave 
it, and go up a Ridge N E. i M, E 2 M, N E i M, to 
the Fork of a River. 

Friday 19. — Set out down the said Run N E 2 M, 
E 2 M, S E 2 M, N 20 E 2 M, E 2 M, up a Large' 
Run. 

Saturday 20. — Set out S E 10 M, E 4 M, over a 
small Creek — - We had such bad travelling down this 
Creek that we had liked to have lost one of our Horses. 

Sunday 21. — Stayed to rest our Horses. 

Monday 22. — Rained all Day — We could not travel. 

Tuesday 23. — Set out E 8 M along a Ridge of 

' He had passed over the Cumberland Mountain at or near Pound 
Gap, and going down Gist's River came to the Clinch, up which he passed, 
and crossing the divide came to the Bluestone, a tributary of New River, 
on the 30th. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. 159 

Mountains then S E 5 M, E 3 M, S E 4 M, and en- 
camped among very steep Mountains. 

Wednesday 24. — S E 4 M thro steep Mountains and 
Thickets E 6 M. 

Thursday 25.— E 5 M, S E i M, N E 2 M, S E 2 
M, E I M, then S 2 M, E i M killed a Bear. 

Friday 26. — Set out S E 2 M, here it rained so 
hard We were obliged to stop. 

Saturday 27 Sunday 28 & Monday 29. — These three 
Days it continued raining & bad Weather, so that We 
coud not travel. All the Way from Salt Lick to this 
Place, the Branches of the little Cuttaway River were 
so high that we coud not pass them, which obliged Us 
to go over the Heads of them, through a continued 
Ledge of almost inaccessible Mountains, Rocks and 
Laurel Thickets. 

Tuesday 30.— Fair Weather Set out E 3 M, S E 8 M, 
E 2 M, to a little River or Creek which falls into the big 
Conhaway called Blue Stone, where we encamped and 
had good Feeding for our Horses. 

Wednesday May i. — Set out N 75 E 10 M and killed 
a Bufltaloe, then went up a very high Mountain, upon the 
Top of which was a Rock" 60 or 70 Feet high, & a Cavity 
in the Middle, into which I went, and found there was a 
Passage thro it which gradually ascended to the top, with 

' In Mercer County, West Virginia. See Summary, page 165. 



i6o yournal of Christopher Gist. 

several Holes in the Rock, I could see a prodigious dis- 
tance, and could plainly discover where the big Conhaway 
River broke the next high Mountain, I then came down 
and continued my Course N 75 E 5 M further and 
encamped. 

Thursday 2 and Friday 3. — These two Days it rained 
and We stayed in Camp to take Care of some Provision 
We had killed. 

Saturday 4. — This Day our Horses run away, and it 
was late before We got Them, so We coud not travel far, 
We went N 75 E 4 M. 

Sunday May 5. — Rained all Day. 

Monday 6. — Set out thro very bad Ways E 3 M, N E 
6 M, over a bad Laurel Creek E 4 M. 

Tuesday 7. — Set out E 10 M, to the big Conhaway 
or New River and got over half of it to a large Island 
where We lodged that Night. 

Wednesday 8. — Made a Raft of Logs and crossed the 
other half of the River & went up it S about 2 M — The 
Conhaway or New River (by some called Wood's' River) 
where I crossed it (which was about 8 M above the Mouth 
of blue Stone River) is better than 200 Yards wide, and 
pretty deep, but full of Rocks and Falls — The Bottoms 
upon it and blue Stone River are very rich but narrow, 
the high Land broken. 

' See note 2, page 36. 



yournal of Christopher Gist. i6i 

Thursday 9. — Set out E 13 M to a large Indian 
Warrior's Camp, where we killed a Bear and stayed 
all Night. 

Friday 10. — Set out E 4 M, S E 3 M, thro Moun- 
tains covered with Ivy and Laurel Thickets. 

Saturday 11. — Set out S 2 M, S E 5 M, to a Creek 
and a Meadow where We let our Horses feed, then S E 
2 M, S I M. S E 2 M to a very high Mountain up on 
the Top of which was a Lake or Pond' about ^ of a 
Mile long NE&SW, &i^ofa Mile wide the Water 
fresh and clear, and a clean gravelly Shore about 10 
Yards wide with a fine Meadow and six fine Springs in 
it, then S about 4 M, to a Branch of the Conhaway 
called Sinking Creek. 

Sunday 12. — Stayed to rest and dry some Meat We 
had killed. 

Monday 13.— Set out S E 2 M, E i M, S E 3 M, 
S 12 M to one Richd Hall's in Augusta* County this 
Man is one of the farthest Settlers to the Westward 
upon the New River. 

Tuesday 14. — Stayed at Richd Hall's and wrote to 
the President of Virginia & the Ohio Company to let 
them know I should be with Them by the 15th of June. 

' This was Salt Pond, a noted fresh water pond in Giles County, Virginia, 
' Augusta County then included Montgomery County. 



1 62 youynal of Christophey Gist. 

Wednesday 15. — Set out from Richd Hall's S 
16 M. 

Thursday 16. — The same Course S 22 M and encamped 
at Beaver Island Creek ( a Branch of the Conhaway ) 
opposite to the Head of the Roanoke. 

Friday 17.— Set out S W 3 M, then S 9 M, to the 
dividing Line between Carolina and Virginia, where I 
stayed all Night, the Land from Richd Hall's to this 
Place is broken. 

Saturday 18. — Set out S 20 M to my own House on 
the Yadkin River, when I came there I found all my 
family gone, for the Indians had killed five People in the 
Winter near that Place, which frightened my Wife and 
Family away to Roanoke about 35 M nearer in among 
the Inhabitants, which I was informed of by an old Man 
I met near the Place. 

Sunday 19. — Set out for Roanoke, and as we had now 
a Path, We got there the same Night when I found all 
my Family well. CHRISTOPHER GIST. 

An Account of the Festival mentioned in my Journal. 
(See page 131.) 

In the Evening a proper Officer made a public Proc- 
lamation that all the Indians marriages were dissolved, 
and a Public Feast was to be held for three succeeding 



yournal of Christopher Gist 163 

days after, in which the women as their Custom was were 
again to choose Husbands. 

The next Morning early the Indians breakfasted and 
after spent the Day in dancing till the Evening when 
a plentiful Feast was prepared, after feasting they spent 
the Night in dancing. The same Way they spent the 
next two Days till Evening, the Men dancing by them- 
selves and then the women in turns round the Fires, 
and dancing in their Manner in the Form of the 
Figure 8 about 60 or 70 at a Time. The Women the 
whole Time they danced sung a Song in their Language 
the Chorus of which was, 

I am not afraid of my Husband 
I will choose what Man I please 

singing those Lines alternately. 

The third Day in the Evening, the Men being about 
100 in Number, some Times at Length, at other Times 
in a Figure 8 quite round the Fort and in and out of 
the long House, where they held their Councils, the 
Women standing together as the Men danced by them ; 
And as any of the Women liked a Man passing by she 
stepped in and joined in the Dance, taking hold of the 
Man's Strond whom she Chose, and then continued in the 
Dance till the rest of the Women stepped in and made 



164 yournal of Christopher Gist. 

their choice in the same Manner : after which the Dance 
ended and they All retired to consummate. 

N. B. This was given to me by Colonel Mercer 
Agent of the Ohio Company and now Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor of North Carolina. 

Summary of Gist's Route Through Kentucky and Virginia to 
His Home in North Carolina. 

After leaving the Shawnee town on the south side of the Ohio Gist 
went down the south bank of the Ohio River, travehng the first day 
eighteen miles, the second fifteen, and the same distance on the third, 
making a total by his count of forty-eight miles. It is presumed that so 
far he had followed the river, as he states that he went down it on the 
second day, and on the third came to a creek too high to ford. This was 
presumably at its mouth, and as the only creeks putting into the Ohio any- 
where near that distance are Cabin Creek, forty-six miles, and Limestone, 
fifty-one from South Portsmouth by the table of the Chesapeake & Ohio 
Railroad, it is probable that he had reached the former. But all effort to 
define his route further is rendered very difficult by the evident inaccuracy 
of his courses, as, for instance, March 14th, his second day, he says he 
went "down the river S. 15 M.," where the course of the river is nearly 
due west. It is no doubt an error of the printer, but as his courses daily 
were various, and errors in transcribing or printing likely to exist, when 
one thinks how a single error would prevent the determination of his 
course, it is idle to attempt to follow him in his daily rambles. But while 
it is impossible to do this or to designate with certainty his course, it 
is easy to determine where he did not go. As, for instance, he did not 
follow the Ohio and cross the Licking at its mouth, as all his courses 
given forbid such a supposition. Nor did he go to Big Bone Lick, as 
Pownall states, or, in addition to the same reason just stated, he would 
have noted the fact. To reconcile such hypotheses with his courses, 
Pownall not only places Big Bone down on his map as fifteen miles 
above the Falls, when it is ninety-four, but makes with pecked lines, as 
explained on the map, the Ohio take a southwest instead of a northwest 



younial of Christopher Gist. 165 

course from Gist's location on the 14th. So also he was not on the i8th 
at Bullitt's Lick, fifteen miles south of the Falls, as others claim, since 
by Gist's account he had traveled in four days but ninety miles, while 
the distance from Maysville by direct rail route is one hundred and fifty 
miles, and pioneers always overestimated the distance traveled by them 
in a day. From the topography described, and the proximity of any eleva- 
tion which would be called a mountain by so experienced a woodsman as 
Gist, it is evident that he had not progressed far beyond the range which 
bounds the Bluegrass region on the east. The Licking was known as the 
Great Salt Lick Creek instead of river, and may have been called the 
Lower Salt Lick Creek to distinguish it from one of the same name 
already referred to, which puts into the Ohio at Vanceburg, eighteen 
miles below the mouth of the Scioto, and up which the warriors' path 
ran. So I am of the opinion that he was at the Lower Blue Licks, or 
the Olympian Springs, in Bath County — both an hundred miles from the 
Falls as the crow flies. It is a needless task to attempt to follow his 
course thence in detail. The river he speaks of as the Little Cuttawa 
was the Kentucky proper, and could not have been what we know as the 
Little Kentucky of to-day. It is most probable that he skirted the Blue- 
grass region to the Upper Kentucky River and passed from the Red River, 
which was known as the Warriors' Fork, to the North Fork, and thence 
found his way through Pound Gap. He then passed in a general course 
eastward down what is known as Gist's or Guesse's Fork of the Clinch, in 
Wise County, Virginia, and passing the divide came upon the waters of 
the Bluestone, a tributary of New River. His position on May 1st, when 
he ascended a high mountain and climbed to the top of a high rock, is 
identified as being in Mercer County, West Virginia, where there is a notable 
rock, as described by him, from which can be seen to the southeast the 
great canyon of the Narrows, through which New River runs through a spur 
of the Alleghany in Giles County. In Martin and Brockenborough's History 
of Virginia, Richmond, 1835, page 346, is the following: "Near Pearis- 
burg, proudly pre-eminent, stands the Angels' Rest, a pinnacle that overtops 
all the mountains of the neighborhood and affords one of the most inter- 
esting prospects in the western country." On the nth of May he reached 
the Salt Pond Mountain, the lake on which he describes as it is to-day, 
notwithstanding it is common to hear persons say that their grandfathers 
remembered it when it was a great sinkhole without water. The latter 
evidently dates back to a period anterior to the white man, and its forma- 



1 66 younial of Christopher Gist. 

tion is to be referred to the Silurian limestone which underlies the moun- 
tain. Sinking Creek, a short distance south, indicates the same formation. 
On the 13th he crossed the route traveled by Doctor Thomas Walker on 
the i6th of March, 1750, on his westward trip, and near to Draper's 
Meadow, where the massacre by the Shawnees occurred July 9, 1755, when 
Colonel James Patton was killed and Mrs. Ingles and Mrs. Draper taken 
prisoners. On the 17th of May he passed from Virginia into North Carolina 
through Flower Gap, known also as Wood's Gap, from Colonel Abram 
Wood, who, in 1671, passed through it and discovered New River, long 
known as Wood's River. The writer followed the same route pursued by Gist 
near the close of the war, in April, 1865, and thence down the Yadkin to 
Salisbury, North Carolina, passing near the home of Gist and Daniel Boone, 
who, eighteen years after Gist's expedition, went first to Kentucky by way 
of the same Gap. 



Appendix B. 

Big Bone Lick, a series of salt springs, the most notable in 
Kentucky, is situated in the northern part of what is now Boone 
County, three or four miles south of the Ohio River. Instead of 
being fifteen miles above the Falls at Louisville, as represented 
to Gist and as put down on the map of Lewis Evans and 
others, it is ninety-four miles above Louisville. Gist does not 
claim to have been there, but some of his commentators have 
insisted that he was, and the maps have been contorted to con- 
form to their theories. It is famous as being the spot where 
was first found in America the bones of the Mastodon [Mastodon 
giganteus). This prehistoric quadruped is described zoologically 
as "a new mammal resembling the elephant but larger and 
having tuberculate teeth, whence its name. The remains of the 
mastodon are found in the temperate parts of both hemispheres." 
As the locality ranks as a natural curiosity with the Mammoth 
Cave, peculiarly a Kentucky phenomenon but cursorily described 
or explained in our history, I deem it not inappropriate to insert 
here such matter respecting it as I have been able to collate. I 
pretermit the question of the geologic age to which the animal 
belongs or the period at which the bones here found were 
entombed, while I incline strongly to the belief that it was syn- 
chronous with the age of man. When or by what white man 
these bones were first found is not known, their first notation 
being upon the map of Charlevoix, 1744, who gives 1729 as the 
date of their discovery. They were noticed in the journals of the 
subsequent explorers, and have for a century and more been an 
object of investigation and comment by the leading scientists of 
the world. 



1 68 Appendix B. 

Captain M. F. Bossu/ a French officer stationed at Fort 
Chartres in Illinois, makes the following reference to them in a 
letter dated there November lO, 1756: "Yesterday an express 
arrived here from Fort DuQuesne to our Commander, who 
informs me that the English made great preparations to come to 
attack that place again. M. de Macarty has sent provisions to 
victual the fort. The Chevalier Villiers commands it in my 
stead, my bad health not permitting me to undertake that 
voyage. It would have enabled me to examine the place on the 
road where an Indian found some Elephant's teeth, of which he 
gave me a grinder weighing about six pounds and a half. In 
1735 the Canadians who came to make war upon the Tchicachas 
found near the fine river Ohio the skeletons of some Elephants, 
which makes me believe that Louisiana joins to Asia, and that 
their Elephants came from the latter continent by the western 
part, which we are not acquainted with. A herd of these 
Elephants having lost their way probably entered the new conti- 
nent, and having always gone on main land and in forests, the 
Indians not having the use of fire arms were not able to destroy 
them entirely. . It is possible that some arrived at the place on 
the Ohio which on our maps is marked with a cross. The 
Elephants were in a swampy ground, when they sunk in by the 
enormous weight of their bodies, and could not get out again, 
but were forced to stay there." 

George Croghan, in his journal of his trip down the Ohio in 
1765, makes the following entry of May 30th: "We passed the 
Great Miami River thirty miles from the little river of that name, 

' Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes Occidentales, Contenant une Relation des 
different peuples qui habitent les environs du grand fleuve Saint Louis 
appell^ vulgairement le Mississippi ; leur Religion ; leur gouvernment : leur 
Guerres, leur Commerce. Par M. Bossu, Amsterdam, 1768. 



Appendix B. 169 

and in the evening arrived at the place where the Elephants' bones 
are found, where we encamped, intending to take a view of the 
place next morning, 31st. Early in the morning we went to the 
Great Lick where these bones are only found, about four miles 
from the river. In our way we passed through a fine timbered 
clear wood. We came into a large road which the buffaloes 
have beaten spacious enough for a wagon to go abreast, and lead- 
ing straight into the Lick. It appears that there are vast quan- 
tities of these bones lying five or six feet under ground, which 
we discovered in the bank at the edge of the Lick. We found 
here two about six feet long. We carried one with some other 
bones to our boat, and set off." Mann Butler's History of 
Kentucky, Appendix, second edition, Cincinnati, 1836. 

Captain Harry Gordon, in his Journal Appendix to Pownall's 
Description, &c. , London, 1776, who also visited the Lick, July 
16, 1766, says he encamped opposite Big Bone Lick, about thirty 
miles southwest of the mouth of the Licking, called by him Great 
Salt Lick. "The e.xtent of the muddy part of the Lick," he 
says, "is three fourths of an acre." Captain Thomas Hutchins, 
heretofore referred to in these notes as being with him, says in 
his book, London, 1778, that the celebrated Doctor Hunter thought 
the bones of the mastodon were those of some carniverous animal 
larger than an elephant. 

In 1773 Captain Thomas Bullitt, Hancock Taylor, and James 
Douglas, surveyors, and others in their company, James McAfee, 
George McAfee, Robert McAfee, James McCoun, junior, and 
Samuel Adams, in another company descending the Ohio from 
the mouth of the Kanawha, where they had met by chance, 
stopped here and visited the Lick on the 4th and 5th of July. 
They found bones in great quantities, and made seats of the ver- 
tebra and tent poles of the ribs. 

25 



170 Appendix B. 

Vast numbers of the bones were taken away as curiosities by 
parties visiting the Lick, but no systematic effort was made to 
secure a complete skeleton until in the early part of the current 
century one Doctor Goforth began his excavations and secured 
several entire skeletons. In a manuscript copy of the autobiography 
of General James Taylor, of Newport, Kentucky, in my possession, 
occurs the following interesting account : ' ' The year 1 794 was the 
first time I was at the Big Bone Lick. It had been a great resort 
of the buffalo, and the roads leading from the rich lands of the 
Elkhorn and its waters were larger than any common ones now 
in the State, and in many places were worn five or six feet deep. 
The road leading from the upper Lick, called the Gum Spring, 
to the lower Lick at the Fork, called the West Fork, was large and 
much worn, and where it was washed in gullies I discovered at least 
one fourth of the dirt appeared to be mixed with crushed bones. 
No doubt they had been masticated by the big animals of former 
days whose bones were so numerously found in and about these two 
Licks. A Major Finnell, about twelve or fifteen years ago [The 
autobiography was written about 1840. — Ed.], dug for those bones, 
and on a rise about ten or twelve feet above the bottom of the 
creek came to a well, and at the depth of about twenty feet found 
an almost entire skeleton of those enormous animals which had 
been buried there ages ago. The well was about twenty feet in 
diameter and twenty feet deep. The large bones were laid around 
the outside of the wall and so inwardly to the center, and the skull 
placed on the top in the center. Every one of the large bones was 
fractured, and had the print of a heavy instrument, used to endeavor 
to break them, it is presumed, on account of some superstitious 
belief. This account I had from Major Finnell. He had a partner 
in searching for these bones who forced him to sell his half for two 
thousand dollars. They were taken to New Orleans and sold for 



Appendix B. 171 

five thousand dollars, from thence to New York, and thence to 
England. I think it was about 1837 they were found. I was well 
acquainted with Semonell Stockdale, who was employed by Doctor 
Goforth, with several hands, to dig for those big bones. He 
obtained permission from David Ross, of Virginia, the owner at 
the time, or of Thomas Carneal, his agent, to do so. He, Stock- 
dale, told me he found a large number, and several descriptions 
of animals, some of the large species carniverous and some her- 
biverous. The bones of a species of elk, full the size of a large 
horse, whose horns hung down the side of his head and curled 
outward. I understand Doctor Goforth shipped these bones to 
New York to an agent, who sent them to Europe and deprived him 
of the whole proceeds. This, I think, was about the year 1800. 
I was well acquainted with him. He was the son of old Judge 
Goforth, who came from Massachusetts and settled at Columbia 
with the first settlers of Ohio, about a mile below the mouth of 
the Little Miami, in the year 1789." 

Mr. Jefferson may be said to have been the first American of 
any prominence to call the attention of the world to the wonders 
of Big Bone Lick. As it is not only the first, but the clearest, 
scientific treatise on the mastodon, the correctness of which has 
been confirmed by the elaborate study of scientists for more than 
a century, I make the following e.xtract from his Notes on Vir- 
ginia, written in 1781, first English (Stockdale) edition, London, 
1787, page 64 et scq. : 

"Our quadrupeds have been mostly described by Linnaeus 
and Mons. de Buffon. Of these the Mammoth, or Big Buffalo as 
called by the Indians, must certainly have been the largest. The 
tradition is that he was carniverous and still exists in the northern 
parts of America. A delegation of warriors from the Delaware 
tribe having visited the Governor of Virginia during the Revolution 



172 Appendix B. 

on matters of business, after these had been discussed and settled 
in council the Governor asked them some questions relative to 
their country, and, among others, what they knew or had heard 
of the animal whose bones were found at the Salt Licks on the 
Ohio. Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude 
of oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the 
elevation of his subject, informed him that it was a tradition 
handed down from their fathers 'That in ancient times a herd 
of these tremendous animals came to the Big Bone Licks and 
began an universal destruction of the bear, deer, elks, buffaloes, 
and other animals which had been created for the use of the 
Indians ; that the Great Man above, looking down and seeing 
this, was so enraged that he seized his lightning, descended on 
the earth, seated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a rock 
on which his seat and the print of his feet are still to be seen, 
and hurled his bolts among them till the whole were slaughtered 
except the big bull, who, presenting his forehead to the shafts, 
shook them off as they fell ; but missing one at length it wounded 
him in the side, whereon, springing round, he bounded over the 
Ohio, over the Wabash, and finally over the Great Lakes, where 
he is living at this day.' It is well known that on the Ohio 
and in many parts of America further north tusks, grinders, and 
skeletons of unparalleled magnitude are found in great numbers, 
some lying on the surface of the earth, and some a little below 
it. A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner by the Indians near the mouth 
of the Tanissee, relates that after being transferred through several 
tribes from one to another, he was at length carried over the 
mountains west of the Missouri to a river which runs westwardly ; 
that these bones abounded there, and that the natives described 
to him the animal to which they belonged as still existing in the 
northern parts of their country ; from which description he judged 
it to be an elephant. Bones of the same kind have been lately 
found some feet below the surface of the earth in salines opened 
on the North Holston, a branch of the Tanissee, about the lati- 
tude of thirty-six and one half degrees north. From the accounts 
published in Europe I suppose it to be decided that they are of the 



Appendix B. 173 

same kind with those found in Siberia. Instances are mentioned of 
hke animal remains found in the more southern cHmates of both 
hemispheres, but they are either so loosely mentioned as to leave 
a doubt of the fact, so inaccurately described as not to authorize 
the classing them with the great northern bones, or so rare as 
to found a suspicion that they have been carried thither as 
curiosities from more northern regions. So that, on the whole, 
there seems to be no certain vestiges of the existence of this 
animal further south than the salines mentioned. It is remarkable 
that the tusks and skeletons have been ascribed by the naturalists 
of Europe to the elephant, while the grinders have been given to 
the hippopotamus or river-horse. Yet it is acknowledged that 
the tusks and skeletons are much larger than those of the 
elephant, and the grinders many times greater than those of the 
hippopotamus, and essentially different in form. Wherever these 
grinders are found, there we find the tusks and skeleton ; but no 
skeleton of the hippopotamus nor grinders of the elephant. It will 
not be said that the hippopotamus and elephant came always to 
the same spot, the former to deposit his grinders and the latter 
his tusks and skeleton. For what became of the parts not 
deposited there.' We must agree, then, that these remains belong 
to each other, that they are of one and the same animal, that 
this was not a hippopotamus, because the hippopotamus had 
no tusks nor such a frame, and because the grinders differ in 
their size as well as in the number and form of their points. 
That it was not an elephant I think ascertained by proofs equally 
decisive. I will not avail myself of the authority of the cele- 
brated anatomist' who from the form and structure of the tusks 
has declared that they were essentially different from those of the 
elephant, because another anatomist "" has declared on a like 
examination that they are precisely the same. Between two 
such authorities I will suppose this circumstance equivocal. But, 
First : The skeleton of the mammoth (for so the incognitum 
has been called) bespeaks an animal of five or six times the 
cubic volume of the elephant, as Mons. de Buffon has admitted. 

' Hunter. ^ D'Aubenton. 



174 Appendix B. 

Second : The grinders are five times as large, are square, and the 
grinding surface studded with four or five rows of blunt points, 
whereas those of the elephant are broad and thin, and their 
grinding surface flat. Third : I have never heard an instance, 
and suppose there has been none, of the grinder of an elephant 
being found in America. Fourth : From the known tempera- 
ture and constitution of the elephant he could never have existed 
in those regions where the remains of the mammoth have 
been found. The elephant is the native only of the torrid zone 
and its vicinities ; if with the assistance of warm apartments and 
warm clothing he has been preserved in life in the temperate 
climates of Europe, it has been only for a small portion of what 
would have been his natural period, and no instance of his multi- 
plication has ever been known. But no bones of the mammoth, 
as I have before observed, have ever been found further south 
than the salines of the Holston, and they have been found as far 
north as the Arctic circle. 

"Those, therefore, who are of opinion that the elephant and 
mammoth are the same must believe, first, that the elephant 
known to us can exist in the frozen zone ; or, second, that an 
internal fire may once have warmed those regions and since 
abandoned them, of which, however, the earth exhibits no 
unequivocal indications ; or, third, that the obliquity of the 
ecliptic, when those elephants lived, was so great as to include 
within the tropics all those regions in which the bones are found, 
the tropics being, as before observed, the natural limits of habi- 
tation for the elephant. But if it be admitted that this obliquity 
has really decreased, and we adopt the highest rate of decrease 
3'et pretended, that is, of one minute in a century, to transfer 
the northern tropic to the Arctic circle would carry the existence 
of these supposed elephants two hundred and fifty thousand years 
back, a period far beyond our conception of the duration of animal 
bones left exposed to the open air, as these are in many instances. 
Besides, though these regions would then be supposed within the 
tropics, yet their winters would have been too severe for the 
sensibility of the elephant. They would have had, too, but one 



Appendix B. 175 

day and one night in the year, a circumstance to which we have no 
reason to suppose the nature of the elephant fitted. However, 
it has been demonstrated that if a variation of obHquity in the 
echptic takes place at all, it is vibratory and never exceeds the 
limits of nine degrees, which is not sufficient to bring these bones 
within the tropics. One of these hypotheses, or some other equally 
voluntary and inadmissible to cautious philosophy, must be adopted 
to support the opinion that these are the bones of the elephant. 
For my part I find it easier to believe that an animal may have 
existed resembling the elephant in his tusks and general anatomy, 
while his nature was in other respects extremely different. From 
the thirtieth degree of south latitude to the thirtieth of north are 
the limits which nature has fixed for the existence and multipli- 
cation of the elephant known to us. Proceeding thence north- 
wardly to thirty-six and a half degrees we enter those assigned 
to the mammoth. The further we advance north the more their 
vestiges multiply as far as the earth has been explored in that 
direction ; and it is as probable as otherwise that this progression 
continues to the pole itself, if land extends so far. The center 
of the frozen zone then may be the acme of their vigor, as that 
of the torrid is of the elephant. Thus nature seems to have 
drawn a belt of separation between these two tremendous animals, 
whose breadth indeed is not positively known, though at present 
we may suppose it to be six and a half degrees of latitude ; to 
have been assigned to the elephant the regions south of these 
confines, and those north to the mammoth, founding the one in 
the extreme of heat, and that of the other in the extreme of cold. 
When the Creator has, therefore, separated their nature as far 
as the extent of the scale of animal life allowed to this planet 
would permit, it seems perverse to declare it the same, from a 
partial resemblance of their tusks and bones. But to whatever 
animal we ascribe these remains, it is certain such a one has 
existed in America, and that it has been the largest of all ter- 
restial beings. It should have sufficed to have rescued the earth 
it inhabited and the atmosphere it breathed from the imputation 
of impotence in the conception and nourishment of animal life on 



176 Appendix B. 

a large scale, to have stifled in its birth the opinion of a writer 
[Buffon — Ed.], the most learned, too, of all others in the science 
of animal history, that in the new world, 'La nature vivante 
est beaucoup moins agissante, beaucoup moins forte,' that nature 
is less active, less energetic on one side of the globe than she is 
on the other. As if both sides were not warmed by the same 
general sun ; as if a soil of the same chemical composition was 
less capable of elaboration into animal nutriment ; as if the 
fruits and grains from that soil and sun yielded a less rich chyle, 
gave less extension to the solids and fluids of the body or pro- 
duced in the cartilages, membranes, and fibres that rigidity which 
restrains all further extension and terminates animal growth. 
The truth is, that a Pigmy and a Patagonian, a mouse and a 
mammoth derive their dimensions from the same nutritive juices. 
The difference of increment depends on circumstances uncertain 
to beings with our capacities. Every race of animals appears to 
have received from their Maker certain laws of extension at the 
time of their formation. Their elaborative organs were formed 
to produce this, while other proper obstacles were opposed to its 
further progress. Below these limits they can not fall, nor rise 
above them. What intermediate station they shall take may 
depend on soil, climate, on food, on a careful choice of breeders. 
But all the manna of heaven would never raise the mouse to the 
bulk of the mammoth." 

Mr. Jefferson, in addition to his arduous duties as Governor, 
member of Congress, Foreign Minister, Secretary of State, Vice- 
President, and President, with little interruption from the cares 
of public life, was broadly learned in all the sciences. The 
foregoing philosophical disquisition on what was then a new sub- 
ject evinces not only much technical learning but remarkable 
powers of reasoning in the abstract, and with the aid of a few 
facts and general principles arriving at an irresistible conclusion 
with the force of a mathematical demonstration. He was the 



Appendix B. 177 

associate and correspondent of the savants, scientists, and natu- 
ralists of two continents, and pari passu with his great ability and 
services as a statesman, lent his aid to the advancement of educa- 
tion, science, and art in their highest forms. He brought to the 
attention of the learned men of Europe as well as America the 
remarkable discovery at Big Bone Lick, and before, during, and 
after his terms as President made it the subject of his study and 
of intelligent collection and preservation and distribution of the 
remains of the mastodon. His position as President of the 
United States and President of the American Philosophical Society 
at Philadelphia enabled him to do much in this respect, and to 
him is chiefly due the fact that in addition to the numberless 
unassorted bones carried off from the Lick, one hundred and five 
skeletons are said to have been secured and distributed in the 
museums and institutions of learning of the world. 

The following letters, which were lately copied by me from the 
originals in possession of Jefferson K. Clark, Esquire, son of Gov- 
ernor William Clark, to whom they were written, the associate of 
Meriwether Lewis in the exploration to the Pacific, 1804-6, and 
which have never been heretofore printed, evince the zeal which 
never flagged in any thing pertaining to the liberty or enlightenment 
of mankind. The chirography of the originals is a marvel of 
exactness and neatness, with a broad margin to the left as straight 
as if written by a law clerk : 

^ „. Washington Dec 19. 07 

Dear Sir 

I have duly received your two favors of Sep. 20 and Nov 10. 
and am greatly obliged indeed by the trouble you have been 
so good as to take in procuring for me as thorough a supple- 
ment to the bones of the mammoth as can be had. I expect 
daily to receive your bill for all the expenses which shall be hon- 
ored with thanks. The collection you have made is so consid- 

26 



178 Appendix B. 

erable that it has suggested an idea I had not before. I see 
that after taking out for the Philosophical Society every thing 
they shall desire, there will remain such a collection of duplicates 
as will be a grateful offering from me to the National Insti- 
tute of France for whom I am bound for something, 'but in 
order to make it more considerable, I find myself obliged to ask 
the addition of those which you say you have "deposited with 
your brother^ at Clarksville, such as ribs, backbones, leg bones, 
thigh, ham, hip, shoulder blades, parts of the upper and under 
jaw, teeth of the mammoth & elephant, & parts of the mammoth 
tusks, to be forwarded hereafter if necessary." I avail myself of 
these last words to ask that they may be packed and forwarded to 
me by way of N. Orleans, as the others have been. I do this 
with the less hesitation knowing these things can be of little use 
to yourself or brother, so much in the way of furnishing your- 
selves & because I know they will be so acceptable to an institu- 
tion to which, as member, I wish to be of some use. I salute 
you with great friendship and esteem 

Th Jefferson 
Genl Wm Clark. 

When the above letter was written Mr. Jefferson was in the 
second year of his first term as President, having been inaugurated 
first March 4, 1801. At the date of the following he was in 
retirement at Monticello, his official term of office having expired 
March 4, 1809. Mr. Jefferson was then sixty-six years old, hav- 
ing been born April 13, 1743, and died July 4, 1826: 

^ , Monticello Sep. 10. 09 

Dear General. 

Your favor of June 2. came duly to hand in July, and 

brought me a repetition of the proofs of your kindness to me. 

' It was one of Mr. Jefferson's idiosyncrasies to begin some of liis sen- 
tences without capitals. 

'General George Rogers Clark, who was then living at Clarksville, 
Indiana, just opposite Louisville, on the land acquired from Virginia by 
his military services. 



Appendix B. 179 

Mr. Fitzhugh' delivered the skin of the sheep'' of the Rocky 
mountain to the President, from whom I expect to receive it in 
a few days at his own house. For this, as well as the blanket 
of Indian manufacture of the same material which you are so 
kind as to offer me, accept my friendly thanks Your donations 
& Governor Lewis's have given to my collection of Indian 
curiosities an importance much beyond what I had ever counted 
on. the three boxes of bones which you had been so kind as to 
send to N. O. for me, as mentioned in your letter of June 2. 
arrived there safely & were cared for by the collector, & the bill 
of lading sent to me. but the vessel put into the Havanna, 
under embargo ^ distress, was there condemned as unseaworthy 
and her enrollment surrendered at St. Mary's, what was done 
with my 3 boxes I have not learned but have written to Mr. 
Brown the Collector, to have enquiry made after them. The 
bones of this animal are now in such a state of evanescence as 
to render it important to save what we can of them, of those 
you had formerly sent me I reserved a very few for myself, 

' Mr. Dennis Fitzhugh, of St. Louis, brother-in-law of General Clark. 

^The Big Horn of the Rocky Mountains {Ovus Montana), first discovered 
and described by Lewis and Clark in their expedition to the Pacific. 

3 So called from the suspension of all commerce resulting from the 
following acts : On the 22d of June, 1807, after much irritation caused by 
the assertion by the English of the right to search our vessels for alleged 
deserters or native English sailors, whose right of expatriation they denied, 
the American man of war Chesapeake, Commodore Barron, was overhauled 
by the British ship Guerriere, Captain Dacres, who demanded to search our 
vessel. Upon refusal, the Guerriere fired upon the Chesapeake, killing 
several of her crew. Commodore Barron being unprepared for action, struck 
his colors, and four men were taken from his ship. Thereupon President 
Jefferson, on July 2d, issued a proclamation ordering all armed English vessels 
out of American waters, and interdicted communication or trade of any kind 
with them. Great Britain retaliated by such orders as virtually closed all 
our ports and placed an embargo upon all oceanic trade, which was not raised 
until June 10, 1809, by proclamation of President Madison of April 19, 



i8o Appendix B. 

got Dr. Wistar ' to select from the rest every piece which 
could be interesting to the Philosophical Society and sent the 
residue to the National Institute of France, these have enabled 
them to decide that the animal was neither a mammoth or 
an elephant, but of a distinct kind, to which they have given 
the name of Mastodont"" from the protuberances of its teeth, 
these from their form and the immense mass of their jaws 
satisfy me that they must have been herbivorous. Nature seems 
not to have provided other foods sufficient for him ; & the limb 
of a tree would be no more than a bough of cotton tree to a 
horse. You mention in your letter that you are proceeding with 
your family^ [underscored] to Fort Massac, this informs me you 
have a family & I sincerely congratulate you on it. While some 
may think it will render you less active in the service of the world, 
those who take a sincere interest in your personal happiness and who 
know that by a law of nature we can not be happy without the 
endearing connections of a family will rejoice for your sake as I 
do. the world has of right no further claims on yourself and 

' Doctor Caspar Wistar, a distinguished scientist and medical professor 
of Philadelphia, who, in 1815, was elected President of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, and died in 18 18. 

^ Mastodont, from the Greek /latrzu^, the breast of a woman, and dSau^, a 
tooth, so called from the conical projections upon the molar teeth. 

3 General William Clark was born in Virginia, August i, 1770, became 
an ensign in the army at twenty, and was a captain when selected by Jeffer- 
son, in 1804, to go to the Pacific with his private secretary, Meriwether 
Lewis. He settled in St. Louis on his return, and was married in Fincastle, 
Virginia, to Julia, called also Judith, youngest daughter of Colonel George 
Hancock, member of the Fourth Congress. The attachment began early, as 
on the expedition to the Pacific General Clark, in June, 1805, when she was 
but fourteen, named a river Judith for her, which empties into the Missouri 
just below the mouth of Big Horn River. General Clark was at the time 
of his marriage thirty-six years of age. He was appointed by President 
Madison, April 8, 1813, first Territorial Governor of Missouri, and held the 
office by reappointment until 1820, when Missouri was admitted as a State, 
July ig, 1820. 



Appendix B. i8i 

Govt Lewis, but such as you may voluntarily render according 
to your conscience or as they make it your interest. I wrote 
lately to the Governor, but be so good as to repeat my affection- 
ate attachments to him & to be assured of the same with every 
sentiment of esteem & respect. 

To Genl Wm Clark. "^^ Jefferson 

The following topographical and other facts are from CoUins' 
History of Kentucky, 1882, Volume II, pages 51, 52, under the 
head of Boone County : 

"In this county is situated the celebrated Big Bone Lick, 
about twelve miles a little southwest of Burlington (the county- 
seat) and one mile and a half east of Hamilton, on the Ohio 
River. The Lick is situated in a valley which contains about 
one hundred acres, through which flows Big Bone Creek. There 
are two principal springs, one of which is almost on the northern 
margin of the creek ; the other is south of the creek and at the base 
of the hills which bind the valley. There is a third spring of 
smaller size some considerable distance north of the creek which 
flows from a well sunk many years ago when salt was manufactured 
at this Lick. The valley is fertile and surrounded by irregular hills 
of unequal elevation, the highest being on the west and attaining an 
altitude of five hundred feet. The backwater from the river at 
times ascends the creek as far as the Lick, which, by the course of 
the stream, is more than three miles from the river. At a very 
early day the surrounding forest had no undergrowth, the ground 
being covered with a smooth, grassy turf, and the Lick spread over 
an area of about ten acres. The surface of the ground within this 
area was generally depressed three or four feet below the level of 
the surrounding valley. This depression was probably occasioned 
as well by the stamping of the countless numbers of wild animals, 
drawn thither by the salt contained in the water and impregnating 
the ground, as by their licking the earth to procure salt. There 
is no authentic account of this Lick having been visited by white 
men before 1739. 



1 82 Appendix B. 

"In 1773 James Douglas, of Virginia, visited it and found the 
ten acres constituting the Lick bare of trees and herbage of 
every kind, and large numbers of the bones of the mastodon or 
mammoth and the Arctic Elephant scattered upon the surface of 
the ground. The last of these bones which thus lay upon the 
surface of the earth were removed more than sixty j'ears ago ; 
but since that time a considerable number have been exhumed 
from beneath the soil, which business has been prosecuted as 
zealously by some as other persons are wont to dig for hidden 
treasures. Some of the teeth of these huge animals would weigh 
near ten pounds, and the surface on which the food was chewed 
was about seven inches long and four broad. A correspondent 
informs me that he had seen dug up in one mass several ribs 
and tusks and thigh bones, and one skull, besides many other 
bones. Two of these tusks, which belonged to different animals, 
were about eleven feet in length, and at the largest end six or 
seven inches in diameter ; two others were eight feet long. The 
thigh bones were four or five feet in length, and a straight line 
drawn from one end of some of the ribs to the other would be 
five feet. These dimensions correspond with what Mr. Douglas 
has said of the ribs which he used for tent poles in 1773. Our 
correspondent thinks the skull above mentioned certainly belonged 
to a young animal, and yet the distance across the forehead and 
between the eyes was two feet. This Lick is the only place in 
which these gigantic remains have been found in such large 
quantities, and deserves to be called the graveyard of the mam- 
moth. The first collection of these fossil remains was made by 
Dr. Goforth in 1803. and in 1806 was intrusted by him to the 
English traveler, Thomas Ashe (the slanderer of our country), to 
be exhibited in Europe, who, when he arrived in England, sold 
the collection and pocketed the money. The purchaser after- 
ward transferred parts of this collection to the Royal College of 
Surgeons in London, to Doctor Blake, of Dublin, and Professor 
Monroe, of Edinburgh, and a part was sold at auction. The 
next collection was made in 18 19 by the Western Museum by order 
of Mr. Jefferson while he was President of the American Philo- 



Appendix B. 183 

sophical Society, about the year 1805, and was divided between 
that society and M. Cuvier, the distinguished naturahst. A third 
collection was made in 18 19 b}^ the Western Museum Society. 
In the year 183 1 a fourth collection was made by Mr. Finnell. 
This was first sold to a Mr. Graves for $2,000, and taken 
by him to the Eastern States and there sold for $5,000. In 
1840 Mr. Cooper, of New York, estimated that the bones of one 
hundred mastodons and twenty elephants, besides those of several 
other animals, had been collected here. Salt was manufactured 
at Big Bone Lick by the Indians before 1756, and by the whites 
as late as 1812. It required five or six hundred gallons of 
the water to make a bushel of salt." 

The Indians from north of the Ohio came to Big Bone Lick 
in the dry months of summer and fall to make salt, when the 
water, free from the dilution of rain water, was most strongly 
impregnated. It was here that in the fall of 1755 the Shawnees 
from the mouth of the Scioto came for that purpose, and brought 
with them Mrs. Mary Ingles, wife of William Ingles, of Ingles' 
Ferry, on the New River, Virginia, near the present crossing of 
the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad in Montgomery County. 
They had captured her July 8th of that year, with others, at the 
massacre of Draper's Meadows, and she had endured the terrible 
journey down the New and Kanawha rivers to the old Shawnee 
town in Ohio, and thence to the Lick. She Was said to have 
been the first white woman in Kentucky. For an account of her 
captivity, her escape from Big Bone Lick, and her journey afoot 
to her home, see Collins, Volume II, page 53 ; also Trans-Alle- 
ghany Sketches, by J. P. Hale, Cincinnati, 1886, page 29 et seq. 
For condensed statement, see foot-note to entry of March i6th 
in Doctor Walker's Journal, ante. 

In Volume III, Kentucky Geological Report, 1877, Professor N. 
S. Shaler, Director of the Geological Survey, speaking of the 



184 Appendix B. 

mineral springs of Kentucky "as being but the brines of the early 
seas in which, millions of years ago, our rocks were laid down," 
says on page 18: "Moreover, the swampy grounds about these 
springs are filled with successive layers of buried animals belong- 
ing to the extinct life of the country. Elephants, mastodons, and 
many other animals which no longer live on our land lie buried 
by the thousand around the waters where they resorted for salt. 
Big Bone Lick, a territory of forty acres or more, is crowded 
with these remains, as interesting in their way as the ruins of 
Egypt. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance to science 
of a thorough study of these great burial-places ; through such 
work we may be able to understand the nature of the great 
changes that swept away the vast creatures which occupied the 
earth before the time of man." 

From Big Bone Lick buffalo roads led to Blue Licks, and also 
southwest to Drennon's Lick, in Henry County, thence to the 
crossing of the Kentucky just below Frankfort. From the valley 
of the river they then passed to the high ground east of Frankfort 
by a deeply worn road visible, yet known as the Buffalo Trace, to 
the Stamping Ground, in Scott County, a town named from the 
fact that the animals in vast herds would tread or stamp the 
earth while crowded together and moving around in the effort of 
those on the outside to get inside and thus secure protection from 
the flies. Thence they passed by the Great Crossings, so called 
from its being the place where they crossed Elkhorn, two 
miles west of Georgetown, and thence eastward to Blue Lick, 
May's Lick, and across the river into Ohio. Their roads formed 
in the comparatively level country the routes of the immigrants 
through the dense forests, impenetrable from the heavy cane, 
peavines, and other undergrowth. They also determined in many 
portions of the State not only the lines of travel and transporta- 



Appendix B. 185 

tion, but also of settlement, as particularly shown between Mays- 
ville and Frankfort, a distance of about eighty miles, where the 
settlements were first made along the Buffalo road, and later the 
turnpike and railroad followed in close proximity to the route 
surveyed by this sagacious animal, which Mr. Benton said blazed 
the way for the railroad to the Pacific. The same idea is embodied 
in the vernacular of the unlettered Kentuckian who said that the 
then great road makers were "the buffler, the Ingin, and the Ingi- 
neer." 



27 



INDEX TO DOCTOR WALKER'S JOURNAL. 

Abingdon 4, 8, 11 

Adair, James xiv, xv 

Adams, Thomas 24 

Albemarle County 26, 34, 82 

Alexander, Captain Paul 70 

Alleghany Mountains viii, xiv, xv, 3, 4, 9, 38, 74 

Alleghany River xv 

Almon, J xvi 

Alps 26 

Anburey , T 16 

Andes 26 

Anthony's Creek 74 

Anthony, John 74 

Apomatock Town viii 

Appalachian Mountains vii, xi 

Appomattox River vii, 36 

Ark of the Covenant xv 

Armstrong, Robert 74 

Armstrong, William 37 

Arnold, Benedict 14 

Assembly, Colonial 4 

Atlantic Ocean vii, 3 

Augusta Court House, Virginia 73, 75 

Austin, Stephen F 40 

Barbourville, Kentucky 51, 55 

Barrier, Casper 38 

Batts, Thomas viii, 36 

Baylor, Miss i 

Beard, Adam 36 



1 88 Index to Doctor IValkers yoitrnal. 

Beargrass River 29, 47 

Bedford County, Virginia 37 

Bell, David 24 

Bell, Joshua Fry 24 

Belmont, Mrs 2 1 

Bentivoglio, Virginia 79 

Berkeley, Governor William vii 

Big Bone Lick 3">, 62 

Big Sandy River 62, 66, 67, Gy, 70 

Big Stone Gap 48 

Big Sycamore Creek 45, 47 

Blacksburg 38 

Bland County, Virginia 46 

Blue Licks, Upper 61 

Blue Ridge vii, x, 3, 8, 36, 37 

Bluestone River 46, 72 

Boone, Daniel 36, 51, 56, 61, 64, 79, 8i 

Boone, Squire 61 

Borland 22 

Botetourt County, Virginia 82 

Boundary line of 36° 30' viii, 3, 11, 36, 49 

Bouquet's Expedition 34 

Bourne, James M xix 

Braddock, General Edward 8 

Bradford's Notes 78, 84 

Bragg's Army 51 

Breckinridge, James D 23 

Breckinridge, Captain Robert 70 

Brown, Honorable John 78 

Bryan, Daniel 78, 80, 81 

Bryant's Station 3 1. 33. 8° 

Buchanan, Colonel John 5, 30, 83 

Buffalo 11, 43. 57 



Index to Doctor IValker's yotirnal. 189 

Buford's Gap 37 

Bullitt, Helen M 24 

Bullitt, Henry Massie 24 

Bullitt, James 24 

Bullitt, John C 24 

Bullitt, Joshua Fry 24 

Bullitt, Susan 24 

Bullitt, Thomas Walker 24, 68 

Bullitt, William C 24 

Burgesses, House of 10 

Butcher, The 48 

Butler, Mann 78, 83 

Byrd, Colonel William 3, 21, 36, 37 

Byrd, Colonel William, junior 40, 43, 81 

Byron, Lord 48 

Cabot, Sebastian vi 

Caffery, Donelson 12 

Callaway, Richard 36 

Callaway, William 36 

Campbell, Major Charles 5, 30, 42, 83 

Canada xii 

Caroline, Queen ^.8 

Castle HUl i^^ 26 

Catawba River 61,63 

Catcloo River ^ i 

Cave Gap 41, ^8, 57 

Cave Spring 4g 

Cbamplain vii 

Charles \\ ix 

Charlottesville i^ 

Chattaroi River 67 

Chattarawha 57 

Chelsea ix 



I90 Index to Doctor Walker's yottrnal. 

Chenoa River 63 

Chenoka River 63 

Chenoweth, Doctor Henry 24 

Cherokees xiv, 5, 41, 42, 43 

Cherokee Towns, Tennessee 80 

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad 72, 73 

Chew, Colby 31, 33, 52, 56, 83, 84 

Chew, Thomas 33 

Chickasaws 13 

China vii 

Chiswell, John 40 

Chiswell, Fort 40, 81 

Chiswell's Lead Mines 80 

Christiansburg 39 

Churton, William 4 

Clay City 64 

Clark, George Rogers 13, ig, 70, 77 

Clark, Governor William 14, 19 

Clinch River 11, 41, 45, 46 

Clinch Mountain 45, 80 

Clifty Creek 72 

Clover Creek 50, 52, 54, 57 

Cochran, Jane 23 

Colby's Creek 59 

Columbus, Christopher v, vi 

Committee of Public Safety 10 

Cornstalk, Chief 9 

Council of State 10 

Creek Indians xiv 

Croghan, George 17 

Crooked Creek 7, 53, 57 

Cull, James 38 

CuUoden, Battle of 48 



Index to Doctor Walker s yournal. 191 

Culpeper County, Virginia 84 

Cumberland, Duke of 48, 67, 80, 82 

Cumberland Ford 50, 51 

Cumberland Gap xv, t2, 29, 30, 41, 42, 44, 48, 61, 80, 82 

Cumberland, Maryland g 

Cumberland Mountain 50, 62, 80, 82, 83, 84 

Cumberland River xiii, 7, 50, 53, 54, 57, 80, 82, 83 

Cuttawa River 61, 62, 63 

Dan River 38 

Danville, Kentucky 23, 24 

Darlington, William M xix 

Davis, Benjamin 24 

Delegates, House of 11 

De Soto, Hernando vi, xiii 

Detroit xii, 62 

Dettingen 48 

Dinwiddle, Governor Robert 70 

Dinwiddle Papers 70 

Dismal Creek 72 

Divers, George 21 

Dixon, Honorable Archibald 24 

Donelson, John 12 

Donelson, Samuel 12 

Draper, John 38 

Draper, Lyman C 68, 77, 79, 81 

Draper, Mrs. George 38 

Draper, Mrs. John 38 

Duke of Cumberland 48, 67 

Dunkards 39 

Dunlap, Captain 70 

Du Quesne, Fort 34 

Durrett, R. T xiii, xix, 36, 49, 80 

England ix, 4, 80, 82 



192 Index to Doctor Walker's yournal. 

Euphrates River 38 

Evans, Lewis 7 

Evans' Map 7, 55 

Everett, Edward 21 

Fallam, Robert viii 

Falls, Ohio xiii 

Faulkner, George H 59 

Fayette County, Kentucky 80 

Filson Club xiii, xvii, xviii, 29, 31, 57 

Filson, John 78 

Findlay, John 61, 64 

Finley, John 61 

Flat Creek 5° 

Flat Lick 81 

Flat-Top Mountain 71. 72 

Florida vi 

Flower Gap 36 

Fontaine, John xi 

Fort Patrick Henry 43 

Fox River xiii 

France ix 

Frankfort, Kentucky 79 

Franklin, Benjamin . ■ • 8 

Frederick, Prince of Wales 65 

Frederick's River 7. 61, 63, 65 

French Broad River 41 

French and Indian War 42, 53, 82 

Fry, Major Carey 25 

Fry, Henry 18, 20 

Fry, John 23. 25 

Fry, Colonel John 25 

Fry, Joshua, senior 4. 5. n. 20, 23, 34 

Fry, Joshua, junior 21, 23, 34 



Index to Doctor Walker's yournal. 193 

Fry, Lucy Gilmer 23 

Fry, Martha 24 

Fry, Mildred Ann 24 

Fry, Sallie 23 

Fry, General Speed Smith 25 

Garcilaso vi 

George I xi 

George II 48, 65 

George III 65 

George, Mount xi, xii 

Georgia xiv, 42 

Giant's Ditch 43 

Gilmer, Doctor George i, 18, 20 

Gilmer, Governor George Rockingham 20 

Gilmer, Governor Thomas Walker 20 

Gist, Christopher xvi, xix, 32 

Gloucester County i 

Golden Horse Shoe x, xii 

Grant's Defeat 33 

Great Salt Creek 62 

Green, Honorable John 23 

Greasy Creek 45 

Green, Doctor Lewis W 25 

Greenbrier River 72, 73, 74, 8 1 

Green River 30 

Gulliver's Travels 64 

Halifax County 38 

Hale, Colonel John P 30 

Hall's Sketches of the West 83 

Harrodsburg, Kentucky 79 

Harvie, John 9, 35 

Haywood's Tennessee 30, 46 

Hazard's Pennsylvania Register 82 

28 



194 Index to Doctor Walker's yonrnal. 

Hazle Patch, Kentucky 84 

Henderson, Richard 12, 43 

Hening's Reports 13 

Henning, Fanny 23 

Henry, Patrick 20, 43 

Hill, General A. P 33 

Hinton, West Virginia 7a 

Hogg, Captain Peter 70 

Holly Creek 45 

Holston River 5, 41, 42, 43, 44, 83, 84 

Hornsby, Joseph 18, 21 

Hot Springs, Virginia 73, 75 

House of Burgesses 9 

Hughes, John 31, 33, 56 

Hughes' River 7, 60 

Hunt, Thomas 35 

Hutchins, Captain Thomas 62 

Hunting Creek 61, 62, 63 

Hutchinson, Ardell 24 

Illinois River xiii 

Independence, Declaration of 3 

Indian Creek 54 

Indian Old Fields 64 

Ingles' Ferry 36, 39 

Ingles, Mary 38 

Ingles, Thomas 38 

Ingles, William 38 

Ireland ix 

Irvine, Kentucky 61 

Jackson, Andrew 12, 13 

Jackson, Mrs 56 

Jackson Purchase 13 

Jackson's River 74 



Index to Doctor IValkers younial. 195 

Jameson 75 

James River ix, 34, 35, 74 

Jamestown vi 

Jefferson, Fort 13 

Jefferson, Peter 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 1, 34 

Jefferson, Thomas 3, 13, i8, 27, 44 

Jews XV 

Johnson, Cave 80 

Johnson County 67 

Johnston, Andrew 75 

Johnston, Walker 74 

Johnston, J. Stoddard 29, 30, 31, 32 

JopHn, Thomas 34 

Kanawha River viii, xv, 36, 70, 72 

Kean, Caroline 22 

Keats, Emma 24 

Keats, John 24 

Kenova, Kentucky 71 

Kentucky Historical Society 77 

Kentucky River 61, 62, 63, 64, 81, 84 

xvii, xix, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 41, 43 
55, 57, 62, 63, 67, 68, 77, 80, 81, 82, 83 

King Charles II ix 

King and Queen County i 

King George I xi 

Kingsport 43 

Knox County, Kentucky 51 

Knoxville, Tennessee 41 

La Chine vii 

La Salle xiii 

Laurel Creek 70 

Laurel Fork 61 

Laurel Mountain , , ,....,.,....,.. 81 



Kentucky, State of \ 



196 Index to Doctor Walker's yoiirnal. 

Laurel River 57 

Lawrence County, Kentucky 67 

Lawless, Henry 31, 33, 56 

Lawless' River 7, 58 

Leonard, Henry 38 

Levisa Fork 67, 84 

Lewis, Andrew xii, g, 10, 35, 70 

Lewis and Clark Expedition 14, ig 

Lewis, David 75 

Lewis, Meriwether 14, ig 

Lewis, Nicholas 14, 18, 20 

Licking Creek 51 

Licking River 62, 65, 66 

Lincoln, Abraham 23 

Lincoln County, Kentucky 5g 

Lindsay, Reuben 18 

Livingston, Kentucky sg 

London xv 

Long Island 43 

Long H unters 48 

Looney's Gap 45 

Louisa River 63, 67, 69, 84 

Louisiana xiii, 12, 19 

Louis XIV xiii 

Louisville xiii, xvii, 15 

Loyal Land Company xv, 5,6, 11,33, 55 

Lulbegrud Creek 64 

McAfee, General Robert B 68, 79 

McCall, James 40 

Madison County, Kentucky 59 

Madison, James 27, 34 

Madison, Wisconsin 77 

Magoffin County, Kentucky 65 



Index to Doctor Walker s yournal. 197 

Maple Creek 54 

Marshall, Humphrey 78, 80, 84 

Martin, Colonel William 81, 82 

Marquette xiii 

Maryland 8, 62 

Maury, Dabney H 21 

Maury, Reverend James 20 

Maury, Matthew 18, 20 

Maury, Matthew F 2i 

Meade, Bishop 35 

Meadow Creek 54, 55 

Mercer County, Kentucky 68 

Meriwether, Mrs. Nicholas 3 

Mexico, Gulf of xiii 

Miami Indians 63 

Miami River, Great xvi 

Michigan, Lake xiii 

Millewakame 63 

Milley's River 61, 63 

Mississippi River xiii, xiv 

Mississippi Valley xiv 

Mitchell's Map 7, 48 

Mobile 62 

Monongahela River xv, 70, 82 

Montgomery County, Virginia 38 

Montgomery, Captain 70 

Montreal xiv 

Monticello 14 

Moore, Elizabeth 20 

Morse's Geography 30, 83 

Morse, Samuel F. B 61 

Mossing • place 66 

Munsell's Map 56 



198 Index to Doctor IValkers yournal. 

Naked Creek 61 

Nashville 11 

Nelson, Jane Byrd 21 

Nelson, Governor Thomas 14 

Nesam, Jack viii 

New Jersey xvi 

New Orleans xiv 

New River 36, 39, 40, 46, 72, 73, 80, 81, 84 

Norfolk & Western Railroad 71 

North America vi 

North Carolina viii, xiv, 3, 4, 11, 12, 36, 38, 61, 62, 79 

Northwest Territory 19 

Ohio Company xv, 5 

Ohio, Falls of xiii 

Ohio River xiii, 7, 12, 13, 41, 42, 62, 70 

Ohio, State of xvi, 38 

Okenechee viii 

Orange County, Virginia 84 

Ouasiota Pass 62 

Overton, Captain Samuel 70 

Pacific Ocean vii, 14, 19 

Page, Doctor Mann 21 

Page Family 17 

Page, Doctor R. C. M 17, 21 

Paint Creek 67 

Paintsville, Kentucky 67 

Panama Railway 22 

Panther Gap 75 

Paris, Treaty of xiv 

Patterson's Creek 54 

Patton, Colonel James 5. 3°. 38, 42, 83 

Peachy, Mary i 

Peachy, Susanna • i 



Index to Doctor Walker's youmal. 199 

Peak Creek 40 

Pearis, Captain Richard 70 

Peay, Austin 23 

Pennsylvania 8, 17, 62 

Perecute viii 

Perry villa, Kentucky 51 

Petersburg, Virginia vii, 36 

Piccadilly xvi 

Pine Hill, Kentucky 59 

Pine Mountain 50 

Pineville, Kentucky 50, 57 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 82 

Pocahontas Coal Field 71 

Point Pleasant 35 

Postmaster General of America 8 

Powell, Ambrose 31, 33, 41, 47, 48, 52, 56, 67, 80, 83, 84 

Powell County, Kentucky 64 

Powell's Mountain 80 

Powell's River 7, 29, 45, 48, 56, 57 

Powell's Valley 48, 80, 83, 84 

Pownall, Thomas, M. P xvi, 7, 62, 63 

Preston, Captain William 38, 70 

Pulaski County 40 

Ragged Creek 74 

Raleigh County, West Virginia 71 

Reed Creek 40 

Reedy Creek 40, 42, 43 

Red River 64 

Revolutionary War 14, 70 

Rhinelander, Mary F 22 

Richmond, Virginia 70 

Rivanna River 35 

Rives, Alice 22 



200 Index to Doctor Walker's yournal. 

Rives, Amdlie 22 

Rives, Am^lie Louise ,• ■ 22 

Rives, Colonel Alfred Landon 22 

Rives, Arthur Landon 22 

Rives, Constance 22 

Rives, Ella 22 

Rives, Ella Louise 22 

Rives, Francis R 22 

Rives, Francis Robert 21 

Rives, George Lockhart 21 

Rives, Maud 22 

Rives, Honorable William C 21,77, 79 

Rives, William Cabell xvii, xviii, 22, 25, 29 

Rives, Doctor William C 22, 29, 30, 31, 77 

Roanoke River 38 

Roanoke, Town of 37 

Robinson, James 37 

Rockcastle County, Kentucky 59 

Rockcastle River 59, 61, 68 

Rockfish River • • 34, 35 

Rock House 59 

Rocky Creek 54 

Rome, New York 9 

Rose, Robert 35 

Salt River 59, 68, 79 

Salyersville, Kentucky 65 

Sandusky 62 

Sandy Creek 70 

Scioto 62 

Scotland ix 

Sears, Grace Winthrop 22 

Seven Years' War 53 

Shallcross, Mary Ellen 23 



Index to Doctor Walker's yournal. 201 

Shawnee Town, Lower 62, 80 

Shelby, Governor Isaac 13, 49, 78, 84 

Sheldrakes 44 

Shenandoah River x, xii, 39 

Shenandoah Valley x, xii, 39, 41, 73 

Sigoumey, Henry 22 

Six Nations 9 

Slaughter, Reverend Philip 34 

Smith County, Tennessee 82 

Smith, Daniel 11, 12, 79 

Smith, Henry 1 1 

Smith, Captain James 70 

Smith, Sarah 1 1 

Smith, Walker Bruce 22 

Smith, William B 12 

Sneedville, Tennessee 45 

South Carolina xiv, xvi 

South Sea vii, viii, x, xii, xiii 

Spottswood, Governor Alexander x, xi, 20, 39 

Speed, Ann Pope 24 

Speed, Honorable James 23 

Speed, James Breckinridge 24 

Speed, Judge John 23 

Speed, Joshua Fry 23 

Speed, J. Smith 24 

Speed, Lucy Fry 23 

Speed, Peachy Walker 23 

Speed, Philip 24 

Speed, Susan Fry 24 

Speed, Susan Bell 24 

Speed, Thomas 23 

Speed, Captain Thomas 57 

Speed, William Pope 23 

29 



202 Index to Doctor Walker's yotti'nal. 

St. Lawrence River vii, xii 

Stafford County it 

Staffordshire i 

Stainaker's 41, 42 

Stalnaker, Samuel 41, 46 

Standing Turkey, Chief 81 

Stanton, Kentucky 64 

Staunton River 37, 38 

Staunton, Virginia 75 

Stanwix, Fort 9 

Station Camp Creek 61 

Steep Ridge 49 

Steep Rock 4 

Stephens, Adam 10 

Stevenson, Honorable Adlai E 25 

Steward, David 75 

Stewart, John 64 

Stopher 79 

Sullivan County 43 

Summers County, West Virginia 72 

Sumner County, Tennessee 11 

Swan Pond 51, 56 

Swan Pond Creek 51 

Swift Run Gap x, 39 

Tarleton, Colonel Bannastre 14, 15 

Taylor, Frances 34 

Taylor, Hubbard 84 

Taylor, James 34 

Taylor, Martha 33, 34 

Taylor, Zachary , 34 

Tazewell County, Virginia 46 

Tennessee River 9, 11, 12, 13, 41, 46, 80 

Tennessee, State of xiv, 5, 11, 12, 13, 30, 42, 43, 49 

Thornton, Elizabeth 19 



..... f I. 3. 5, 7, 

Virginia i 

i 38, 45. 4 



Index to Doctor PValkers yournal. 203 

Thornton, Mildred 3 

Tolera Indians x 

Tomerlin, William 33, 80 

Tomlinson's River 58 

Tomlinson, William 31, 33, 56, 73, 80" 

Trans-Alleghany xiv, 23, 30 

Treaty of Paris xiv, 82 

United States 4 

Vaugondy, Sr. Robert de 7 

Vernon, Mount ig 

Vincennes 16 

3, 10, II, 14, 15, 17, 19, 35, 36 
46, 49, 62, 67, 71, 79, 82, 84 

Walker, Baylor 35 

Walker, Elizabeth 20 

Walker, Francis 2i 

Walker, Jane Francis 21 

Walker, John i, 10, 16, 18, 20 

Walker's Journal 22, 29, 30 

Walker, Judith Page 21 

Walker, Martha 21 

Walker, Mary ("Captain Moll ") 14, 15, 20 

Walker's Meadows 84 

Walker, Mildred 21 

Walker's Mountain 41 

Walker, Peachy 23, 34 

Walker, Reuben 21 

Walker, Susan 20 

{XV, xvi, xvii, I, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16 
17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 27, 35, 41, 42, 45 
48, 51, 54, 63, 67, 68, 77, 78, 79, 84 

Walker, Thomas, junior 18, 20 

Walker's Settlement 7, 55 

Waping . , , . , , . . ix 



204 Index to Doctor IValkers yournal. 

War, Revolutionary 4 

Warrior Forii 64 

Warrior's Path 41, 51, 64 

Washington Court House 8 

Washington County 12 

Washington, George 3,9, 10, 12, 16, 19 

Watauga 41, 43 

Welch, Nicholas 36 

Welden, J. R xix 

Weldon, Daniel 4 

Westover 3, 21 

Westover Papers 4, 36 

West Virginia 71 

Whymper, Edward 26 

Wilderness Road 51, 57 

Wilderness, The 84 

William and Mary College 2, 4 

Williamsburg xi, 1 

Williamson, Elizabeth 24 

Will's Creek 9, 34 

Wisconsin River xiii 

Withers' Border Warfare 70 

Wolf Creek 46 

Wolf Hills 8 

Wood, General Abram vii, viii, 36 

Wood, Colonel 5, 30, 83 

Wood, James 10 

Wood's River viii, 36 

Wood, Thomas viii 

Woodson, Captain Obadiah 70 

Wytheville .... ,„ 

Yeates, Judge J 82 

Yellow Creek 50, 80, 84 



INDEX TO CHRISTOPHER GIST'S JOURNAL. 

Adams, Samuel , igg 

Africa, Darkest i3g 

Aix la Chapelle 87, 91, 93, 127 

Algonquin Indians 124 

Alleghany Mountains 85, 86, 96, 104, 105, 108, 123, 165 

Alleghany River 92, 96, 106, 109, 123, 126 

America 88, 123, 167, 171, 172, 174, 175 

American Land System go 

American Philosophical Society 177, 178, 180, 182 

Angels' Rest i6g 

Annosanah 116 

Antietam Creek, Maryland 103 

Archives, French g2 

Army, British 105 

Arctic Circle 174 

Ashe, Thomas 182 

Augusta County, Virginia 161 

Baltimore, Maryland 85 

Baltimore County, Maryland 85 

Baltimore & Ohio Railway 103 

Barron, Commodore lyg 

Bath County, Kentucky 165 

Battle Creek 128 

Battle of the Raisin gg 

Beaver County, Pennsylvania 108, in 

Beaver Creek in, 112 

Beaver Island Creek 162 

Beaver, King of the Delawares in 

Beautiful River, The 92, 93, 94 



2o6 Index to Christopher Gist's journal. 

Bell, Judith loo 

Benton, Thomas H 185 

Big Bone Creek 181 

Big Bone Lick 149, 164, 167, 169, 170, 177, 181, 183, 184 

Big Buffalo 171 

Big Horn River 180 

Big Horn Sheep 179 

Big Sandy Creek, Ohio 113 

Big Sandy River 139 

Blackburn, Governor Luke P 99 

Blair, Francis P 99 

Blair, General Frank P gg 

Blair, Montgomery gg 

Blake, Doctor 182 

Blakely, Laurie J g2 

Bledsoe, Judge Jesse 99 

Blue Grass 133, 146 

Bluegrass Region 165 

Blue Licks 165, 184 

Blue Ridge 98 

Bluestone River 158, 159, 160, 165 

Boone, Daniel 86, 133, 153, 166 

Boone County, Kentucky 167, 181 

Bonnecamp's, Father, Map 113, 126 

Bossu, Captain M. F 168 

Boswell, Doctor Joseph gg 

Bourbon County, Kentucky g8 

Braddock's Campaign no 

Braddock's Defeat go, g7 

Braddock's Route 103 

Breathitt County, Kentucky 154 

British, The 98, 109 

British Ministry log 



Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 207 

British Possessions 87 

Brockenborough's History 165 

Brown, B. Gratz 99 

Brown, Judge Mason gg 

Brownsville, Pennsylvania 96 

Buffalo 146, 147, 154, 159 

Buffalo Roads 184, 185 

Buffon, George Louis Leclerc de 171, 173 

Bullitt, Captain Thomas 128, 169 

Bullitt County, Kentucky 157 

Bullitt's Lick, Kentucky 165 

Bumey, Thomas ., 115 

Butler's, Mann, History of Kentucky 109, 127, 169 

Cabin Creek, Kentucky 1 64 

Campbell, Colonel William 98 

Canada gi, 123, 128, 129 

Canewood, Kentucky g7, g8 

Carlisle, Pennsylvania no 

Cameal, Thomas D 171 

Carroll County, Ohio 113 

Carter, Robert 89 

Catawba Indians 138 

Cayuga Indians 123 

Celeron, Captain M. de Blainville . . .91, 92, 93, 94, 114, 126, 127, 128, 134 

Celeron's Expedition 113 

Celeron's Journal 92 

Chapman, Nathaniel 89 

Charlevoix, Francois Xavier de 123, 167 

Chataquin Lake 92 

Chautauqua Lake 92 

Chenango River 92 

Cherokee Country 97 

Cherokee Indians 98, 1 23, 1 39 



2o8 Index to Christopher Gist's yotirnal. 

Chesapeake, The 179 

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad 164 

Chickasaw Indians 123 

Chillicothe, Old 128 

Choctaw Indians 124 

Christian, Colonel William 98 

Cincinnati 127, 183 

Circleville, Ohio 122, 128 

Clark, George Rogers 98, 109, 132, 146, 178 

Clark, Jefferson K 177 

Clark, Governor William 177, 178, 179, 180 

Clarke County, Ohio 146 

Clarksville, Indiana 178 

Clay City, Kentucky 153 

Cleveland, Ohio 113 

Clinch River 158, 165 

Clover 123, 133, 146 

Coal 154. 155 

Collins' History of Kentucky 181, 183 

Colonial Records 106 

Columbia, Ohio 171 

Columbus, Ohio ....113 

Connolly, Doctor John 109 

Coonce, Mark 113 

Cornplanter, Chief 123 

Coshocton, Ohio 114, 121 

Covington, Kentucky 92 

Crane, The 155 

Crawford, Hugh 108, 149 

Cresap, Thomas 89, 90, 103, 105 

Croghan, Major William 109 

( 95, 108, 109, no, III, 114, 115, 118, 120, 127 
Croghan, Colonel George. \ 

( 128, 129, 132, 135, 138, 145, 146, 148, 168 



Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 209 

Cumberland, Maryland go, 103, 11 1 

Cumberland Mountains 122, 158 

Cumberland River 123 

Curran, Barnaby 11 1, 118 

Cuttaway River 151, 152, 153, 154, 159 

Cuvier, Baron Georges 183 

Cuyahoga River 111,113 

Dacres, Captain 179 

Darlington, W. M 97, loi 

D'Aubenton, Louis Jean Marie. 173 

Delaware Indians. ... 105, 106, 113, 122, 124, 125, 126, 137, 143, 148, 171 

Detroit, Michigan 94, 109, 114, 134 

Devonian Black Shale 153 

Dinwiddie, Governor Robert 89, 95, 96, loi, 107, log, 120, 121, 130 

Dismal Swamp Canal 1 1 1 

Dobbs, Arthur 89 

Douglas, James 169, 182 

Draper, Mrs. John 166 

Draper's Meadow 166, 183 

Drennon's Lick 184 

Dunmore, Lord 109 

East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad 183 

Economy, Pennsylvania 108 

Edinburgh 182 

Egypt 184 

Elk's Eye Creek 113, 114, 119 

Elkhom Creek, Kentucky 170, 184 

Embargo, The 179 

England 85, 85, 87, 91, 128, 171 

i 86, 87, 91, 95, 107, 108, no, 114, 117 

English, The \ 

( 119, 123, 126, 127, 129, 130, 135, 136 

English Service 97 

English Soldiers 94 

30 



2IO Index to CJinstopher Gist's yournal. 

English Traders g2 

Erie, Lake in, 115, 118, 129 

Estill County, Kentucky 122 

Europe 171, 174, 177, 182 

Evans', Lewis, Map 167 

Fairfax, Lord 103 

Fairfield County, Ohio 122 

Fayette County, Kentucky gg 

Feather Dance 143 

Filson, John 133, 153 

Fincastle, Virginia 180 

Finlay, John 153 

Finnell, Major N. L 170, 183 

First White Woman in Kentucky 183 

Fitzhugh, Dennis 179 

Flanagan, Judge James 97 

Flower Gap 166 

Forbes' Campaign 149 

Fort Chartiers 168 

Fort DuQuesne 168 

Fort Massac 109, 180 

Fort Miami 119, 143 

Fort Necessity 97, no 

Fort Pitt log, 127, 128, 149 

Fort Wayne, Indiana 143 

France 87, 91, 107, 114, 126, 127, 128, 178 

France, New 93 

Frankfort, Kentucky 184, 185 

Franklin, Pennsylvania 94 

Franklin, Benjamin go, no 

( 87, 88, 8g, 91, g6, 97, g8, 106, 108, 114 
French, The \ 

( ns, n7, ng, 129, 130, 135, 136, 146, 148 

French Creek 94 



Gist 

Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 
Gist 



( 85, 89, 90, 94, 
Colonel Christopher. . . J^ 

( 108, log, III, 



Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 2 1 1 

French and Indian War 97, 98, 106, 108, 127, 149 

Gallissoniere, Marquis de la 91, 93 

Gayarre's History of Louisiana 127 

Gazette, Lexington 99 

Geological Survey of Kentucky 183 

George II 88 

Georgia 139 

Georgetown, Kentucky 1S4 

Giles, Jacob 89 

Giles County, Virginia 161 

Gist, Anne 97, 99 

85, 89, 90, 94, 95, g5, 97, loi, 105, io6, 107 
126, 135, 148, 164, 165, 166, 167 

Davidella , 99 

Eliza 99 

Henry Clay 99 

Judith 99 

Maria 99 

Nathaniel 97, 98, 99 

Richard , 85, 97 

Sarah 99 

Sarah Howard 97 

Thomas 97 

Thomas Cecil 99 

Violette 97 

Zipporah 85 

s River 158, 165 

Goforth, Doctor William 170, 171, 182 

Gordon, Captain Harry 128, 148, 169 

Graves, Mr 183 

Granby, General 105 

Grand Ohio Company 89 

Great Britain 107, 179 



212 Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 

Great Crossings, Kentucky 184 

Gratz, Benjamin 99 

Gratz, Howard H 99 

Great Meadows 97 

Great Salt Lick 169 

Green Spring Station 103 

Guerriere, The 179 

Guest, Colonel Nathaniel 98 

Gulf of Mexico 87 

Hale, J. P 183 

Hall, Richard 161, 162 

Hamilton, Kentucky 181 

Hamilton, Governor James 94 

Hanbury, Capel 89 

Hanbury, John 88 

Hancock, Colonel George 180 

Hancock, Julia or Judith 180 

Hannaona, Big Chief 130 

Hart, Captain Nathaniel 99 

Harrickintoms, Town of 124 

Harris, Mary 121 

Havanna, The 179 

Havre de Grace 103 

Henry County, Kentucky 184 

Hockhocking River 128 

Hockhocking, Town of 122, 145, 146 

Holston River 172, 174 

Howard, Sarah 97 

Huron Indians 124 

Hutchins, Captain Thomas 128, i6g 

Illinois River 87 

Illinois, Territory of 128, 168 

Indian Dances 143, 162, 163 



Index to Christopher Gist's jFournat. 213 

Ingles, Mrs. Mary i66, 183 

Ingles' Ferry , 183 

Ingles, William 183 

Iroquois Indians 106, 122, 123, 124, 148 

James River m 

Jefferson, Thomas in, 171, 176, 178, 179, 180, i8i, 182 

Jefferson's Notes on Virginia 171 

Jenkins, William m 

Johnson, Sir William 108, loq 

Juniata River J04, 105 

Junius, Letters of 105 

Kallander, Robert 132 

Kanawha River. ... 88, 8g, 94, in, 138, 154, 159, 160, 162, 165, 169, 183 

Kanongon River 03 

Kaskaskia 87 

T, . , c* t f ( ^9. 98, 99. 100, 109, no, 122, 123 

Kentucky, State of i 

{ 127, 131, 133, 139, 153, 157, 166 

Kentucky River 8q 

King George II 88, no, 130 

King Louis XV 92, 93, g^ 

King's Mountain, Battle of 07 

Kiskiminitas River 105 

Lancaster, Ohio 122 

Lancaster, Treaty of 96, 108, no 

Laramie's Store 132 

La Salle, Robert Cavalier, Sieur de 87 

Leaden Plates 92, 93, 94, 106 

Lewis, Governor Meriwether 177, 179, 181 

Lexington, Kentucky go 

Lexington Gazette go 

Licking County, Ohio 121 

Licking Creek, Ohio 121, 123 

Licking River 150, 164, 165, 169 



214 Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 

Ligonier, General 105 

Ligonier, Pennsylvania 105 

Limestone Creek, Kentucky 164 

Lincoln, President Abraham gg 

Linnaeus, Carl von Linn6 171 

Little Kanawha River g4 

Locust Grove i og 

Logan, Benjamin g8 

Logan, Mingo Chief 103, 148 

Logstown, Pennsylvania 108, in, 112, 126, 130 

Logstown, Treaty of g5, i4g 

Lomax, Lunsford 108 

London go, 133, 153, 182 

Louis XV g2, g3, g4 

Louisville, Kentucky log, 167, 178 

Loyalhannan 105 

McAfee Brothers, The 128 

McAfee, George i6g 

McAfee, James i6g 

McAfee, Robert i6g 

McCoun, James, junior i6g 

McGuire, John in 

McKee, Alexander log 

Macarty, M. de 168 

Mad Creek 146 

Madison, James 1 7g, 1 80 

Maguck, The, Town of 122, 124 

Mammoth 171 

Mammoth Cave 167 

Margaret's Creek 113 

Marquette, Pere James 87 

Marshall's Life of Washington in 

Maryland 85, g7 



Index to Christopher Gist's journal. 215 

Maryland Battalion 103 

Maryland Legislature 103 

Mason, George 89 

Mason and Dixon's Line 149 

Massac, Fort 109, 180 

Massachusetts 171 

Mastodon, The 149, 150, 167, 184 

Mastodon, Indian Tradition of 172 

Mastodont 180 

Maumee River 134 

May's Lick, Kentucky 184 

Maysville, Kentucky 98, 185 

Meadows, Natural 123, 133, 145, 146 

Mercer, Colonel John 89, 164 

Miami County, Ohio 132 

Miami, Fort 119 

Miami Indians 123, 134, 136 

Miami River, Great 94, 107, 126, 132, 133, 134, 145, 146, 149, 168 

Miami River, Little 132, 146, 171 

Milk, Kegs of 140, 142 

Mingo Indians 1 14, 136, 148 

Mingo Town 128 

Mississippi River 87, 89, loi, 102, 123, 134, 135, 152 

Missouri River 172, 180 

Missouri, State of 99, 180 

Mohawk Indians 123 

Mohickon 136 

Monongahela River 88, 90, 95, 96, 103, 106, 1 1 1 

Monroe, Professor 182 

Monticello 178 

Montour, Andrew.. 109, no, in, 113, 115, 117, 120, 129, 130, 132, 136, 145 

Montour, Madame 109 

Montour, Margaret 113 



2i6 Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 

Montgomery County, Virginia i6i, 183 

Montreal 92 

Moon, Mountains of the 139 

Mooshingung 113 

Moravian Missions 116 

Morris, Isaac no 

Muskingum River 94, 112, 114, 148 

Muskingum, Town of 114, 121 

Narrows, The 165 

Natchez 87 

National Institute of France 178, 180 

Necessity, Fort 97, no 

Negro Lad 94 

New England 90, i2i 

New France 93 

New Orleans 87, 178 

Newport, Kentucky 170 

New River 139, 158, 160, 165, 166, 183 

New York, State of 123, 171, 183 

North Carolina 86, 98, 131, 139, 162, 164, 166 

Notes on Virginia, Jefferson's ... 103 

Northwest, The 87 

Obache River 146 

Ohio, State of 108, 116, 139, 146 

Ohio Company, Grand 89 

{88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 
no. III, 123, 124, 126, 128, 134, 146, 149, 151 
152, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 172, 181, 183 

Ohio, Falls of the 90, loi, 102, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 164, 165 

Ohio Indians 96 

( 86, 88, 90, 91, 95, loi, 102, 103 

Ohio Land Company \ 

( 108, 159, 150, 153, 154, 161, 164 

Ohio Lands 91 



Index to Christopher Gist's journal. 217 

Ohio Valley 133 

Old Town, Maryland 103, 105 

Olympian Springs 165 

Ona • Sciota 122 

Oneida, Ohio 113 

Onondaga Indians 123 

Ottawa Indians 113, 1 19, 142, 143 

Ouasiota Mountains 122 

Ouasiota Pass 122 

Oyo River 93 

Pacific Ocean 87, 179, 180, 185 

Paris 92, I n 

Paris, Treaty of 127 

Paroquet 157 

Pattin, John 119 

Patton, Colonel James 108, 166 

Paxton, Sir Joseph 133 

Pearisburg, Virginia 165 

Pennsylvania 92, 94, 95, 106, 108, 125, 138, 149 

Peters, R no 

Pick Town 119 

Pickaway County, Ohio 122 

Pickwaylinees 115, 119, 131, 132, 134 

Pilot Knob, Kentucky 153 

Pitt, Fort 109 

Pittsburgh 88, 105, 106, 108, 128 

Piqua, Ohio 132, 146 

Plates, Leaden 92, 93, 94 

Point Pleasant 123 

Potomac River 103,1 07, 1 23 

Pound Gap 158, 165 

Powell County, Kentucky 153 

Pownall, Thomas 90, 164, 169 

31 



2i8 Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 

Preston, Colonel William io8 

Pyankeshees 134, 140, 141, 145 

Raisin, Battle of the 99 

Redstone Old Fort 96, 98, 99 

Red River 153, 154, 165 

Revolution, Armies of the 97 

Revolutionary War 90, 98, 103, 171 

Richmond, Virginia 165 

Rights, Bill of S9 

Riswick, Treaty of 93 

Riviere de la Roche 134 

Roanoke River 162 

Rochester, Pennsylvania iii 

Rock River 134 

Rocky Mountains 179 

Rocky Mountain Sheep 179 

Roggony 1 20 

Rome, New York no 

Ross County, Ohio 124, 125 

Ross, David 171 

Rye, Wild 123, 125, 133, 146 

Saint Louis, Knight of gi, 93 

St. Louis 128 

St. Yotoc 126 

Salisbury, North Carolina 166 

Salt Lick Creek, Kentucky 150, 152, 159, 165 

Salt Lick Creek, Ohio 1 24 

Salt Pond Mountain 161, 165 

Salt Pond, Virginia 161 

Sciodoe Creek 122, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129 

Scioto River 122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 134, 165, 183 

Scioto, Plains of the 127, 128 

Scioto Salt Works 124 



Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 219 

Scott County, Kentucky 184 

Scott, Governor Charles 99, 100 

Scott, James 89 

Seneca Indians 123 

Seven Years' War 106, 107, 135 

Sevier, Governor John 98 

Shaler, Professor N. S 183 

Shannoah Indians. See Shawnee Indians. 

Shannoah Town. See Shawnee Town, Lower. 

Shannopin's Town 105, io5, 107 

f 103, 108, 109, 122, 127, 128, 129, 132 

Shawnee Indians I 

( 135. 138. 139. 143. 148, 150. 183 

„. _ . ( 122- 126, 127, 128, 131, 132 

Shawnee Town, Lower J 

I 133, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149 

Shea, John D. G i 24 

Shelby, Evan 98 

Shelby, Isaac 98 

Siberia 173 

Sinking Creek 1 66 

Six Nations 88, 106, 108, log, no, 123, 126, 134, 148 

Smith, Captain James 139 

Smith, Robert 145, 149, 150 

Smith, Samuel 89 

Spanish Possessions 87 

Springfield, Ohio 146 

Stamping Ground, Kentucky 184 

Stanley, Mr 172 

Stanley, Henry M 139 

Stanwix, Fort, Treaty of no 

Station Camp Creek, Kentucky 122 

Steward, Henry in 

Stockdale, Semonell 171 

South Branch 103 



2 20 Index to Christopher Gist's yoitrnal. 

South Carolina I3g 

South Portsmouth, Kentucky 164 

Sugar Trees 124, 133, 147, 152 

Susquehanna River 104, 105, 123 

Sweat • House 106 

Tanissee River 172 

Taylor, Hancock 169 

Taylor, General James 99, 170 

Taylor, John 8g 

Teaff, Michael 118 

Tecumseh, Chief 1 23, 146 

Tennessee, East 97, 98 

Tennessee River no 

Thornton, Presley .... 89 

Tobacco 137, 140, 142 

Todds, The 98 

Trans - Alleghany Sketches 183 

Treaty of Aix la Chapelle 91 

Treaty of Fort Stanwix no 

Treaty of Lancaster 96, 108, no 

Treaty of Logstown 95 

Treaty of Paris 127 

Treaty of Riswick 93 

Treaty of Utrecht 93 

Trent, William 108 

Trinity Churchyard, New York 103 

Tuscarora Indians 123 

Tuscarawas River 113 

Twigtee Indians iig, 123, 132, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 144 

Twigtwee Town 131, 132, 133, 134, 146, 148 

Utrecht, Treaty of 93 

Vanceburg, Kentucky 165 

Venango, Pennsylvania 96, 103, 106 



Index to Christopher Gist's yournal. 



.J- ■ ■ ( 86' 89. 90, 95. 97. 98, 10: 

Virginia I 

( 121, 123, 148, 161, 162, 



Venango County, Pennsylvania g^ 

Villiers, Chevalier 168 

Vincennes 87 

86, 89, 90, 95, 97, 98, loi, 107, 108, log, 113, 120 
165, 166, 171, 178, 183 

Virginia, Jefferson's Notes on 103 

Virginia Line q^ 

Virginians, The 08^ j,, 

Wabash River 123, 134, 135, 172 

Walker, Doctor Thomas 1 56 

Walker's Journal 18, 

Walnut Trees 123, 133, 147, 152 

Walpole Grant gq 

Walpole, Horace 8q 

Walpole, Thomas 80 

Wampum 120, 130, 131, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144 

Wardrop, James 8g 

War, French and Indian 97, 98, 106, 107, 108 

War, Revolutionary qo^ 08 10 ^ 

Warren, Pennsylvania q2 

Warriors' Camp je- jgj 

Warriors' Fork jg. 

Warriors' Path igg i6s 

Washington, Augustine 8q 

Washington City j__ 

Washington, George 89, 96, 97, 98, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, no, in 

Washington, Lawrence 8q 

Washington's Journal jjj 

Wawaughtanney Indians i^j, 145 

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania jq- 

Wharton, Samuel 

White Woman's Creek 

Will's Creek, Maryland .go, 94, 96, 103, in, 131 



90 
121 



222 Index to CJiristophcr Gist's you ma I. 

Windaughalah, Chief 125 

Wise County, Virginia 165 

Wistar, Doctor Caspar 1 80 

Wolfe County, Kentucky 1 54 

Wood, Colonel Abram 166 

Wood's Gap 166 

Wood's River 166 

Wyandot Indians 114. "9. 129. i37. i43 

"i'adkin River 86, 162, 166 

Yananguekonnan 113 

York County, Pennsylvania 103 

Yorkshire, England 103 

Youghiogheny River ■ • • 9^ 



THE 

FILSON CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 



The Filson Club is an historical, biographical, and liter- 
ary association located in Louisville, Kentucky. It was 
named after John Filson, the first historian of Kentucky, 
whose quaint little octavo of one hundred and eighteen 
pages was published at Wilmington, Delaware,. in 1784. It 
was organized May 15, 1884, and incorporated October 5, 
1 89 1, for the purpose, as expressed in its charter, of collect- 
ing, preserving, and publishing the history of Kentucky and 
adjacent States, and cultivating a taste for historic inquiry 
and study among its members. While its especial field 
of operations was thus theoretically limited, its practical 
workings were confined to no locality. Each member was 
at liberty to choose a subject and prepare a paper and 
read it to the Club, among whose archives it was to be 
filed. From the papers thus accumulated selections were 
to be made for publication, and there have now been 
issued thirteen volumes or numbers of these publications. 
They are all paper bound quartos, printed with pica old- 
style type, on white antique paper, with broad margins 
and half-tone illustrations. They have been admired both 
at home and abroad, not only for their original and valu- 
able matter, but also for their tasteful and comely appear- 



TJie Filson Club Publications. 

ance. The}^ are not printed for sale in the commercial 
sense of the term, but for free distribution among the 
members of the Club, and yet there are always some 
numbers left over after the members are supplied, which 
are either exchanged with other societies or sold at the 
price fixed at the date of issue. The following is a brief 
descriptive list of all the Club publications to date, with 
the price at which they were issued and may now be 
had, except where the editions have been exhausted ; and 
even when a publication is out of print and the Club no 
longer controls the price, it can generally be had by pay- 
ing such an advance on the price at which it was issued 
as to induce the owner to part with it : 

1. John Filson, the first historian of Kentucky : An 
account of his life and writings, principally from original 
sources. Prepared for The Filson Club and read at its 
meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, June 26, 1884, by Reuben 
T. Durrett, A. M., LL.D., President of the Club. Illus- 
trated with a likeness of Filson, a facsimile of one of 
his letters, and a photo-lithographic reproduction of his 

\ ■ map of Kentucky printed at Philadelphia in 1784. 4to, 

132 pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, 
Kentucky. 1884. Out of print. Published at $2.50. 

2. The Wilderness Road, a description of the routes 
of travel by which the pioneers and early settlers first 
came to Kentucky. Prepared for The Filson Club by 
Captain Thomas Speed, Secretary of the Club. Illustrated 
with a map showing the roads of travel. 4to, 75 pages. 



The Filson Club Publications. 

John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 

1886. $2.00. 

3. The Pioneer Press of Kentucky, from the printing 
of the first paper west of the Alleghanies, August 11, 
1787, to the establishment of the Daily Press, 1830. Pre- 
pared for The Filson Club and read at its August meeting, 

1887. being the Centenary of Kentucky Journalism. By 
William Henry Perrin, member of The Filson Club. Illus- 
trated with facsimiles of the Kentucky Gazette and the 
Farmer's Library, a view of the first printing house in 
Kentucky, and likenesses of John Bradford, Shadrack 
Penn, and George D. Prentice. 4to, 93 pages. John P. 
Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 1888. 
$2.00. 

4. Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace, some time 
a Justice of the Court of Appeals of the State of Ken- 
tucky. By William H. Whitsitt, D. D. 4to, 151 pages. 
John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky, 

1888. $2.00. 

5. An Historical Sketch of St. Paul's Church, Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, prepared for the Semi - Centennial Cele- 
bration, October 6, 1889. By Reuben T. Durrett, A. M., 
LL.D., President of The Filson Club. Illustrated with 
likenesses of Reverend William Jackson and Reverend 
Edmund T. Perkins, D. D., and views of the church as 
first built in 1839 and as it appeared in 1889. 4to, 90 
pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. 1889. $2.00. 



Tlie Filson Club Pjtblications. 

6. The Political Beginnings of Kentucky: A narrative 
of public events bearing on the history of the State up 
to the time of its admission into the American Union. 
By Colonel John Mason Brown, member of The Filson 
Club. Illustrated with a likeness of the author. 4to, 263 
pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. 1889. $2.50. 

7. The Centenary of Kentucky. Proceedings at the 
celebration by The Filson Club, Wednesday, June i, 

1892, of the one hundredth anniversary of the admission 
of Kentucky as an independent State into the Federal 
Union. By Reuben T. Durrett, A. M., LL.D., President 
of The Filson Club. Illustrated with likenesses of Presi- 
dent Durrett, Major Stanton, Sieur LaSalle, and General 
Clark, and fac-sitniles of the music and songs at the 
centennial banquet. 4to, 200 pages. John P. Morton & 
Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 1892. Out of Print. 
Published at $2.00. 

8. The Centenary of Louisville. A paper read before 
the Southern Historical Association, Saturday, May i, 
1880, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary 
of the beginning of the City of Louisville as an incor- 
porated town under an act of the Virginia Legislature. 
By Reuben T. Durrett, A. M., LL.D., President of The 
Filson Club. Illustrated with likenesses of Colonel Dur- 
rett, Sieur LaSalle, and General Clark. 4to, 200 pages. 
John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 

1893. Out of print. Published at $2.00. 



The Filson Club Publications. 

9. The Political Club, Danville, Kentucky, 1786 -1790: 
Being an account of an early Kentucky debating society 
from the original papers recently found. By Captain 
Thomas Speed, Secretary of The Filson Club. 4to, xii- 
167 pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, 
Kentucky. 1894. $2.00. 

10. The Life and Writings of Rafinesque. Prepared for 
The Filson Club and read at its meeting Monday, April 
2, 1894. By Richard Ellsworth Call, M. A., M.Sc, M.D., 
member of The Filson Club. Illustrated with likenesses of 
Rafinesque and fac-similes of pages of his Fishes of the 
Ohio and Botany of Louisville. 4to, xii-227 pages. John 
P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 1895. 
Out of print. Published at $2.50. 

U. Transylvania University, its origin, rise, decline, 
and fall. Prepared for The Filson Club by Robert Peter, 
M. D., and his daughter. Miss Johanna Peter, members 
of The B'ilson Club. Illustrated with a likeness of Doctor 
Peter. 4to, 202 pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, 
Louisville, Kentucky. 1896. $2.50. 

12. Bryant's Station and the memorial proceedings held 
on its site under the auspices of the Lexington Chapter, 
D. A. R. , August 18, 1896, in honor of its heroic mothers 
and daughters. Prepared for publication by Reuben T. 
Durrett, A. M., LL.D., President of The Filson Club. 
Illustrated with likenesses of the officers of the Lexington 
Chapter, D. A. R., President Durrett, Major Stanton, 
Professor Rancke, Colonel Young, and Doctor Todd, and 



The Filson Club Publications. 

full page views of Bryant's Station and its spring, and of 
the battle-field of the Blue Licks. 4to, xiii-277 pages. 
John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, Kentucky. 
1897. $3.00. 

13. The First Explorations of Kentucky: The journal 
of Doctor Thomas Walker, 1750, and of Colonel Christo- 
pher Gist, 1 751. Edited by Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston, 
Vice-President of The Filson Club. Illustrated with a map 
of Kentucky showing the routes of Walker and Gist through 
the State, with a view of Castle Hill, the residence of 
Doctor Walker, and a likeness of Colonel Johnston. 4to, 
256 pages. John P. Morton & Co., Printers, Louisville, 
Kentucky. 1898. $3.00. 



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